Historical information

The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal made to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

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 got a medal and why.
A total of 138,214 medals were issued, including:
11,561 to Australians
12,500 to Canadians

Ladies awarded the medal can wear it on their left shoulder with the ribbon tied in the form of a bow.
The medals were issued without inscription except for the 37 issued to the British Mount Everest Expedition. These were engraved MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION on the rim.

Physical description

Miniature medal with ribbon.

The full size medal is a circular, silver medal, 1.25 inches in diameter. The obverse features a crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, in a high-collared ermine cloak and wearing the collar of the Garter and Badge of the Bath, and facing right. 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 dark red ribbon is 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide, with two narrow dark blue stripes (0.09375 inches {3/32"} wide) in the centre (0.0625" apart) and narrow white stripes (0.0625") at each edge.