Information about effigy: Imperial Crown - St Edward's Crown and the Tudor Crown

St Edward's Crown is named after Saint Edward the Confessor, one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England (1042 - 5 January 1066). It has traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th century (with a two-century gap between 1689 and 1911).

The Tudor Crown, also known as Henry VIII's Crown, was the state crown of English monarchs from around the time of King Henry VIII until it was destroyed during the Civil War in 1649. It was described by the art historian Sir Roy Strong as "a masterpiece of early Tudor jeweller's art", and its form has been compared to the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

The heraldic depictions of the Royal Crown have undergone many changes in their form and enrichment, and have alternated between representing St Edward's Crown and the Tudor Crown. On coinage, the royal crown is used to mark symbols related to the British monarchy - for example, to crown the monarch's monogram, or the value on some denominations.The symbol is used mostly on coinage of the United Kingdom, but also on colonial (British Empire) and Commonwealth coinage as well - such as the Australian sovereign series. It first appeared on the Crown of the Double Rose coin introduced during the reign of King Henry VIII in 1526.

The actual crown began to assume its present form in the reign of King Henry V. Henry V's crown consisted of a jewelled circlet heightened by four crosses pattée alternating with eight fleurs-de-lis in pairs, and two arches springing from behind the crosses and supporting at the top a mound and cross (similar to an orb). In some reigns additional arches were used, and the number of crosses pattée and fleurs-de-lis was varied. By the reign of King Charles I the royal crown was depicted similarly to the Tudor crown which had four crosses pattée alternating with four fleurs-de-lis, and also four arches rising almost to a point, the arches being studded with pearls. After the restoration of the monarchy, King Charles II based the royal crown on the new St Edward's Crown, which had four crosses pattée alternating with four fleurs-de-lis, but the number of arches was reduced to two and the curvature of the arches being depressed at the point of intersection. On this pattern the royal crown was depicted until the second half of the reign of Queen Victoria.

While various crown symbols had been used for this purpose for many years previously, in 1880 after Queen Victoria became Empress of India it was felt that the heraldic crown should be given an imperial form (it was now the Imperial Crown), and this was effected by making the arches semi-circular joined at the top with the mound and cross. The new design was never intended to represent any actual physical crown and its depiction was never officially standardised at the time, although in shape it bears a close resemblance to both the Imperial State Crown and the small diamond crown of Queen Victoria. As a result of this change the depiction of the crown was very much "at the mercy" of the artist and many variants emerged. After the accession of King Edward VII the War Office raised the issue of a standardised design for use by the army. The king decided on the "Tudor" or "imperial" crown design, and henceforth only this depiction of the crown was used.

In 1952 Queen Elizabeth II requested the design be replaced with a representation of the St Edward's Crown which she wore at her coronation. Many, though not all, of the derived designs around the world were updated to match. Maundy coinage for example was not updated, and continued with the 1880 design depicting the Tudor crown (rounded on top, without the depressions of St Edward's crown).

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the design of King Charles III's royal cypher was announced on 27 September 2022, which featured the Tudor crown rather than the St Edward’s Crown. According to the College of Arms, this depiction would henceforth be used in representations of the Royal Arms, badges and military uniforms. It is also represented on coinage depicting the King's royal cypher, and features on his crowned effigy.

St Edwards Crown on Australian $2

Australia / Two Dollars 2013 Coronation (Purple)

St Edwards Crown is the central motif of the second Australian coloured circulation coin, marking the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.