Edward VII was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and assumed the British throne after her long reign, in 1901.

Although Britain was still considered by many to still be the worlds premier superpower, by 1901, her uncontested superiority was in a position of being challenged, by the United States and more crucially, by the recently united German Empire, which by most accounts had the worlds greatest army and was during this time beginning to build up a navy, the object of which was to one day challenge the British Fleet, not seriously challenged since the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

At the same time,at the beginning of Edward's reign, Britain still adhered to its policy of Splendid Isolation, not seeing the need to entangle itself in alliances with foreign countries. But the rising power of Germany soon led it to look to gain alliances, first with Japan in 1902. Its interests, unthinkably at the time, began to align with those of its centuries old enemy, France.

Edward played an important role in gaining for Britain an alliance with France through his visit there in 1904. From that visit grew the Triple Entente between Britain, France and Czarist Russia,

all of which  ended up fighting on the same side against Imperial Germany and the Austro Hungarian Empire in World War I. The Us also eventually joined that conflict, in 1917, 100 years ago.

Although the bronze coins made during this reign are plentiful, I dont see all that many that are still in blazing red uncirculated condition.

I have just recently completed a set, pretty much all MS 65 or 66 Red, with one or two exceptions, where they were graded as RB but still have 75 percent plus red.

I will post a few here today, the 1902 High Tide and 1902 Low Tide varieties, as well as examples of the 1903 and 1904.

Many of these pieces were obtained from a source which purchased and wrapped these pieces on their original release, so that they preserved their original red more so than most.

I will post some more next time. Enjoy!