Truly unique proof silver crown containing an embedded piece of brass from the original Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory. Issue on this wonderful coin was limited to 10,000 pieces and sold out immediately at the mint as soon as it was issued. Comes in a Mint issued display case with a Certificate of Authenticity as well as a booklet that tells the story of the Greenwich Meridian. As birthplace of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, Greenwich is the setting for some of Europe�s finest architecture. Home to an outstanding collection of beautiful and historic buildings designed by Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, Greenwich was officially designated a World Heritage Site in 1997. The Old Royal Observatory jewel of this World Heritage Site, has been the home of world time since 1884. Prior to that date, almost every town in the world kept its own local time, There were no national or international conventions which set how time should be measured, or when the day would begin or end, or even what length an hour might be. With the vast expansion of railways and communications networks during the 1850�s and 1860�s, the worldwide need for an international time standard became imperative. The Greenwich Meridian was chosen as the Prime Meridian of the world in 1884. 41 delegates form 21 nations met in Washington, DC for the International Meridian Conference. By the end of the conference, Greenwich had won the prize of longitude 0 degrees by a vote of 22:1 against Santo Domingo with two abstentions (France and Brazil). There were two main reasons for the choice. The first was the fact that the USA had already chosen Greenwich as the basis for its own national time zone. The second was that in the late 19th century, 72 percent of the world�s commerce depended upon sea transport which used Greenwich as a prime Meridian. You can read about the rest of the history of the Greenwich Meridian Line in the booklet that comes with this beautiful proof silver crown.