The King's Coronation Medals for Castle Gunners
Medals have been struck to commemorate the coronation of every British monarch since King Edward VI in 1547, while the tradition of giving silver medals to those attending the ceremony at Westminster Abbey began in 1603 with the coronation of King James I.
To commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, around 130,000 official medals were struck. They were issued to chosen members of the royal household, the government, the Armed Forces and others in public service from Britain and the Commonwealth. This longstanding tradition continues to the present day with a new medal issued to mark the coronation of King Charles III on 6th May 2023. More than 400,000 Coronation Medals will be issued across the British Isles.
This Coronation Medal will also be issued to all those who were involved in some way, on the actual Coronation Day and Castle Cornet's long-standing tradition of firing salutes for all official royal occasions continued with a 21-gun salute at 12 noon on Coronation Day, alongside those fired at the royal parks.
The medals were awarded to the 23 Gunners (all veterans) manning the 7 guns plus Battery Commander, Rob Grant and Battery Sergeant Keith Pike. The 3 Castle Keepers responsible for setting up the guns and manning the area were also awarded the coronation medal.
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