This is the Crown I've ever run across stamped with a political message.
The slogan "You Are Now Entering Free Derry" was first seen painted on a house at the corner of Fahan St. and Lecky Rd. in the Bogside neighborhood of Derry, Northern Ireland in January, 1969. It was in response to what Nationalists saw as injustices inflicted on them by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Northern Ireland's national police force. As time passed, it became known as the "Free Derry Corner."
The rhetoric was soon followed by the direct action of citizen militias and paramilitaries to secure their neighborhoods. The Bogside and Creggan areas, both strongly Nationalist, were barricaded and declared off limits to RUC patrols. Although this first action was short lived, subsequent events led to the return of the citizen control from August to October, 1969, and again in August, 1971 after the shooting death of two men by the British Army. Many atrocities were carried out by both sides during these periods of conflict.
After failed negotiations, It finally ended on July 31, 1972 when army troops and police entered the neighborhoods in force.
I acquired this coin from a man in Belfast 7 or 8 years ago who had bought it at the Dublin coin fair in 1989. A sad reminder of an awful chapter in Irish history.
Bruce