Joe Bossano continued to plough his own furrow. To underline his view that the solution to the Gibraltar problem lay in self-determination in a European context, the Gibraltar Government issued a gold coin on 27 May with a face value of £50 or 70 ecus. Unlike other ecu coins issued for collectors but without the status of legal tender, the Gibraltar coins were the first which were intended for circulation.'One side showed a mounted knight in full armour, said to represent Charlemagne, the European Emperor par excellence. The obverse bore Queen Elizabeth's head, and the edge of the coin had twelve stars, representing the EC nations, with a thirteenth star on the knight's shield to represent Gibraltar. It may have been highly symbolic, but it sent a clear message of Gibraltar's commitment to an independent future under both a British and a European umbrella.

A new aspect of Gibraltar's identity had come into play in April 1991 when the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) rejected an application for membership from Gibraltar because, according to a spokesman, ‘it could create political problems between Britain and Spain’. The rejection, in which Gibraltar was described by a sports writer lacking in diplomatic finesse as ‘a Spanish territory dependent on the United Kingdom’, was reported in El Pais on 21 April. The Spanish Football Federation had indicated that it would object to the admission of the Gibraltar Federation, using Article 1, Paragraph 4, of the FIFA statutes, which requires countries to be independent states. The Government of Gibraltar accused FIFA of politicising their application.