Hi,
With these Victoria crowns, it's the edge inscription.
The edge should read “DECUS ET TUTAMEN. ANNO REGNI” followed by a number in roman numerals - for 1896 specifically, it's LIX (59) or LX (60). These reference how many full years Victoria had been reigning at the time the coin was minted.
She began her reign on the 20th June 1837. So coins that were produced earlier in the year (for example, in January 1896) would be marked as the 59th year whereas those from later in the year (for example, December 1896) would be marked as being in her 60th year.
Other than that, the coins are identical.
EDIT: P.s. So far as Numista knows - and for UK coins, the figures are usually very reliable - we only know how many coins were issued in the specific year but we don't know the exact breakdown. In 1896, we know that 317,500 crowns were issued, but not how many are LIX or LX. As such, it's usually very difficult to say this edge inscription is rarer and more valuable than that inscription. Usually, they tend to be valued very comparably.
EDIT2: I originally entered them as 49/50 rather than 59/60. Have corrected it in this edit - thanks for spotting that Rsirian1! Don't know quite where my brain was; probably asleep somewhere.
