Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
	Obverse and reverse of medal
Type	Commemorative medal
Awarded for	Community contribution
Presented by	The monarch of Australia, Canada, Ceylon, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and the United Kingdom;
Eligibility	Commonwealth citizens
Established	2 June 1953
Total	129,051
	Ribbon bar
Related	Silver Jubilee Medal, ; Golden Jubilee Medal, ; Diamond Jubilee Medal,; Platinum Jubilee Medal

The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (French: Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II^[1]) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953.

Award edit

This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family and selected officers of state, members of the Royal Household, government officials, mayors, public servants, local government officials, members of the navy, army, air force and police in Britain, her colonies and Dominions. It was also awarded to members of the Mount Everest expedition, two of whom reached the summit four days before the coronation.^[2] It was struck at the Royal Mint and issued immediately after the coronation.^[3]

For Coronation and Jubilee medals, the practice up until 1977 was that the authorities in the United Kingdom decided on a total number to be produced, then allocated a proportion to each of the Commonwealth countries and Crown dependencies and other possessions of the Crown. The award of the medals was then at the discretion of the government of each territory, which was left free to decide who was to be awarded a medal and why.^[4]

A total of 129,051 medals were awarded,^[5] including:

11,561 to Australians.
12,500 to Canadians.^[6]

Description edit

Medal with rim impressed: Mount Everest Expedition

The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal is a silver disk, 1.25 inches in diameter. The obverse features a crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, facing right, in a high-collared ermine cloak and wearing a Tudor Crown along with the collar of the Garter and Badge of the Bath. There is no raised rim and no legend.

The reverse shows the Royal Cypher EIIR surmounted by a large crown. The legend around the edge reads "QUEEN ELIZABETH II CROWNED 2nd JUNE 1953". The medal was designed by Cecil Thomas.^[7]

The dark red ribbon is 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide, with 5⁄64 inch (2 mm) wide white edges and two narrow dark blue stripes in the centre, each 5⁄64 inch (2 mm) wide and 1⁄16 inch (1.6 mm) apart.

Ladies who were awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal can wear it on their left shoulder with the ribbon tied in the form of a bow.^[3]

The medals were issued unnamed, except for the 37 issued to the British Mount Everest Expedition. These were engraved "MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION" on the rim.^[2]

Precedence by country edit

Some orders of precedence are as follows:

Country	Preceding	Following
Australia Order of precedence^[8]	King George VI Coronation Medal	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
New Zealand Order of precedence^[9]	King George VI Coronation Medal	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
South Africa Order of precedence^[10]	Tshumelo Ikatelaho - General Service Medal	Independence Medal (Transkei)
Ceylon Order of precedence	50th Anniversary Medals (Army) (Navy) (Air Force)	Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal
United Kingdom Order of precedence^[11]	King George VI Coronation Medal	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal

Notable recipients edit

Australia edit

Brunei edit

Alam Abdul Rahman

Ceylon edit

Nepal edit

Tenzing Norgay

New Zealand edit

The following list includes notable New Zealanders who received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal,^[14]^[15] and is not an exhaustive list of recipients.