Five Pounds 2005 Horatio Nelson, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

At the time of decimalisation in 1971, the United Kingdom Crown coin (equal to 5 shillings) was redenominated as a 25p coin and pieces struck prior to 1990 - all the way back to 1818 - continue to be legal tender for that amount. The old denomination had been a regular circulating coin in the 19th century, but in the 20th century it became more of a commemorative denomination.

The Royal Mint continued issuing commemorative coins in the same format - using the traditional coin dimensions, but in copper-nickel. These were initially also denominated as 25 pence but the "Crown" was changed in 1990 to a commemorative £5 (five pound) coin, having the same dimensions and weight but with a face value twenty times as great.

The denomination is used to mark special occasions, usually royal in theme, rather than for use in general circulation. Although not circulating, these coins are legal tender.

This commemorative £5 Crown-sized coin marks the Bicentenary (200th anniversary) of the death of Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar - a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies on 21st October 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815).

As part of an overall French plan to combine all French and allied fleets to take control of the English Channel and enable Napoleon's Grande Armée to invade England, French and Spanish fleets sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October, 1805. They encountered the British fleet commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson, recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar, near the town of Los Caños de Meca.

In a fierce battle, 27 British ships of the line fought 33 French and Spanish ships of the line. Although the lead ships of the British columns were heavily battered, with Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory nearly disabled, the greater experience and training of the Royal Navy overcame the greater numbers of the French and Spanish navies. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost 22 ships; the British lost none. During the battle, Nelson was shot by a French musketeer, and he died shortly before the battle ended.

The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century, and it was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy of the day.

This coin the death of the British commander, while another one issued together with it marks the anniversary of the battle itself.