Posts Tagged ‘royalty coins’
Approved by Buckingham Palace – The Official King Charles III Coronation Coins
A series of coronation coins have been approved by Buckingham Palace – featuring the official British Isles portrait of King Charles III.
Whilst we await for confirmation on a UK coronation coin, Buckingham Palace has approved a series of 50p coins celebrating His Majesty’s upcoming coronation in May.
However, one particular coin has been catching the attention of collectors…
The Dual-Plated King Charles III Coronation 50p
This 50p features the inscription ‘God Save the King‘ and is uniquely plated with a dual-plated finish of silver and 24 carat gold – not something we see very often.
This is the first coin in a brand new British Isles 50p series being issued over the coming months in the lead up to the coronation, all approved by the King himself.
You can add this coin to your collection today for our introductory offer of £4.99 (+p&p) – a saving of £20 – by clicking here.
Meet the obverse designer – Glyn Davies
In anticipation of these coins being issued, we spoke with Glyn Davies – the artist behind the British Isles King Charles III coinage portrait.
He explained that the process of creating our monarch’s portrait took him nearly 6 months. It involved initial sketches, concept sketches, clay models, digital drawings, and even having Raphael Maklouf check over them.
Raphael Maklouf famously designed the United Kingdom’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II that appeared on our coinage between 1985 to 1997.
Watch or read our full interview with Glyn Davies here >>
King Charles III’s Coronation – what we know so far
With King Charles III’s Coronation (code name Operation Golden Orb) is set for Saturday 6th May, 2023, plans are already in place.
- During the ceremony, the King will be crowned alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort.
- The King will be crowned with the solid gold 17th Century St Edward’s Crown.
- There will be an extra bank holiday across the UK, on Monday 8th May.
- It’s expected to be shorter and smaller in scale than Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation.
- The King and Queen Consort will travel to Westminster Abbey in the King’s procession, and return to Buckingham Palace in a larger coronation procession, where they will be joined by other members of the Royal Family.
- The ceremony is likely to be broadcast live.
Add the Dual-Plated Coronation to your collection!
Why King Charles III Coronation coins will be worth collecting
As the United Kingdom prepares for King Charles III’s coronation this year, we can expect worldwide mints to issue coins marking the historic event. But how sought-after will they be?
Well, when you look to recent royalty coins, including those featuring His Majesty’s portrait, there’s sure to be sell-outs.
FIRST UK King Charles III Coins Sell-Out in HOURS
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s sad passing in September 2022, a new UK 50p and £5 coin were issued to commemorate her incredible life and legacy.
These were the first ever UK coins to feature King Charles III’s portrait on the obverse, and the first time we’d seen a new obverse portrait on coins in 70 years.
And, these coins were in such high demand that all premium limited specifications sold out at The Royal Mint within JUST HOURS of release.
This isn’t surprising considering The Royal Mint had queues of over 66,000 collectors on their website, each wanting to secure these coins for their collections.
The First King Charles III Sovereign
The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Sovereign was the first ever UK Sovereign to feature King Charles III’s portrait on the obverse. It was also the first time a memorial sovereign had been issued.
These factors made an already popular coin extremely sought-after by collectors.
It proved so popular with collectors that the Gold Proof, Gold Proof Quarter-Sovereign and Gold Proof Half-Sovereigns all becoming best sellers at The Royal Mint.
Prince Charles 70th Birthday £5
In 2018, The Royal Mint issued a £5 coin to celebrate King Charles III’s 70th birthday. What makes this coin unique is that it was the last UK coin to feature the portrait of His Majesty as ‘Prince’ before he became King.
Since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we’ve seen demand for this coin increase as collectors look to build their King Charles III collections.
The Brilliant Uncirculated version has been listed on eBay for nearly 10 times its face value, whilst the silver proof version is being listed for more than £249.
Dual-Plated National Anthem Platinum Jubilee 50ps
Prior to Charles’ accession to the throne, Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee was the most significant royal event in history.
To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the Isle of Man issued a set of National Anthem Platinum Jubilee 50ps.
The National Anthem collection included a dual reverse design, featuring the words of the iconic National Anthem on the left, and the Queen’s heraldic Beasts on the right.
These coins proved extremely popular with collectors – the initial release of 2,000 dual-plated National Anthem 50ps selling out in less than 2 hours.
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The world’s longest reigning living monarch — celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday
Marking her Platinum Jubilee in 2022, today she also celebrates her 96th birthday.
Her Majesty ascended to the throne on 6th February 1952 and has since reigned as a constitutional monarch through years of significant change. She sees public and voluntary service as one of the most important elements of her work, having links with over 600 charities, military associations, professional bodies and public service organisations.
During her lifetime many coins have been issued in celebration of her birthday, of which she has two — her actual birthday on 21st April and her official birthday on (usually) the second Saturday in June.
Let’s take a look at some of the different coins released over the years in celebration of Her Majesty’s birthdays below.
2021 UK Queen Elizabeth II 95th Birthday BU £5
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 95th birthday in 2021. This major event, making her the first ever ruling monarch in British history to reach this milestone, was commemorated on a UK £5 coin.
The extraordinary 95th anniversary year is highlighted on this detailed £5 coin, designed by heraldic artist Timothy Noad. It features the date of the Queen’s birth and the year 2021 visible on the reverse. The Royal Cypher takes centre stage, with the quote “MY HEART AND MY DEVOTION” surrounding it along the edge. Ninety-five mills are found on this coin’s ‘waved’ milled edge, celebrating one for each year of the Queen’s life.
Traditionally, UK £5 coins are reserved for the most important Royal and Historical anniversaries, and there are few Royal events which are as important as Her Majesty’s birthday.
QEII 95th Birthday BU 50p
In 2021, 10,000 of these 95th Birthday 50ps were released into circulation on the Isle of Man. Fully approved by Buckingham Palace, this design features specially commissioned artwork by sculptor Luigi Badia.
Badia has impressively created over twenty-five portraits of the Queen and this QEII 95th Birthday Brilliant Uncirculated 50p features a recently designed portrait of Her Majesty. His process of sketching a new portrait of the Queen starts with collecting lots of reliable references, combining them to make a unique portrait.
When Badia sketches a portrait to feature specifically on a coin, he usually chooses a profile portrait for a more traditional design. He uses the sketch just as a guide for then producing the plaster model, which he crafts himself over a few weeks to ensure the final coins depict his version exactly.
British Isles 50p coins like this rarely turn up in your change in the UK, making these 50p coins some of the most sought-after circulating coins around.
UK 2021 Queen Elizabeth II’s Official Birthday Silver
DateStamp™ Issue
This special DateStamp™ issue features JUST 500 hand-selected UK 2021 Royal Coat of Arms 1oz Silver Coins, protectively encapsulated and stamped with the official Royal Mail one-day-only postmark of 12th June 2021 – the official date of Her Majesty’s 95th birthday.
This 1oz coin is impeccably struck from 99.9% Pure Silver to The Royal Mint’s Bullion finish. The reverse design by Timothy Noad depicts the official Coat of Arms of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, with the historic design celebrating centuries of British Royal lineage — The Royal Arms is the official coat of Arms of the ruling monarch.
The UK Royal Coat of Arms 1oz Silver Coin has a maximum mintage of 100,000 coins but considering JUST 500 of these limited DateStamp™ issues were available upon initial release, it makes this particular presentation incredibly sought-after.
Visible within the reverse design are the national flowers for each country within the UK: the Tudor rose of England, the Leek for Wales, the Shamrock for Northern Ireland, and the Thistle for Scotland. Featuring on the obverse is Jody Clark’s definitive coinage portrait of Her Majesty the Queen.
2006 UK 80th Birthday £5 Coin
In 2006 a special £5 coin was released, which has since been announced as the fourth rarest £5 coin issued (as of the latest mintage update in 2013)! This £5 coin celebrates the Queen’s 80th birthday, with the dates 1926 and 2006 inscribed as Her Majesty was born in 1926.
This £5 coin is very popular with collectors, which is not surprising when you see its beautiful design. Three trumpets with trumpet banners display on the reverse, accompanied by the inscription “VIVAT REGINA”, the Latin phrase for ‘long live the Queen’. Danuta Solowiej-Wedderburn designed the reverse whilst the obverse features Ian Rank-Broadley’s (FRBS) portrait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
One such event that took place for Her Majesty’s 80th birthday included an informal walkabout in which the Queen spent roughly forty-five minutes interacting with more than 20,000 well-wishers who lined the streets outside Windsor Castle. She was accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh and crowds waved Union flags, as well as carried colourful celebratory bouquets.
Did you know that due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Trooping the Colour ceremony which traditionally marks Her Majesty’s official birthday, could not follow its long-established format in 2021.
Coins that have an interesting back-story, such as these, can be particularly sought-after with collectors!
Explore our range of coins in celebration of the Queen’s previous birthday’s by clicking here >>
