UK – Queen’s Beasts

UK - Queen's Beasts

The Queens Beasts are a series of 10 designs issued by the Royal Mint to represent the ten heraldic statues that were present at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The release is planned to run from 2016 through 2021 and are intended as bullion coins.

The series of coins are issued as silver, gold and platinum and in a wide range of weights and denominations. Weight ranges from quarter ounce to one kilogram.

Specifications:

• Denomination: Varies, Gold 1oz is £100
• Alloy: 999.9 fine gold
• Diameter: 32.69mm
• Quality: Bullion
• Pure Metal Type: Gold
• Pure Metal Content: 1 Troy Oz
• Fineness: 999.9 (99.99% gold)

The Reverse of each coin image will represent one of the heraldic Queen's Beasts statues present at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. So far, Jody Clark has designed the entire range.

The Obverse shows a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Jody Clark.

The set comprises of The Lion of England, Unicorn of Scotland, Red Dragon of Wales, Black Bull of Clarence, Falcon of the Plantagenets, Yale of Beaufort, White Lion of Mortimer, White Horse of Hanover, White Greyhound of Richmond, and Griffin of Edward III.

The original statues lined the entrance to Westminster Abbey in 1953 at the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen. They are now on display in the Canadian Museum of History.

Gold is issued as 5oz, 1oz, ¼oz (denominated £500, £100, £25).

Silver is issued as 1kg, 10oz, 5oz, 2oz, 1oz (denominated £500, £20, £10, £5, £2).

(The year is that of the first or proposed release date of that design)

Year	Beast	Description
2016	Lion of England	The crowned golden lion of England. It has been on the Royal Arms sine Edward IV (1461-1483).
2016	Griffin of Edward III	The Griffin is an ancient mythical beast. It signifies courage and strength combined.
2017	Red Dragon of Wales	The Red dragon was the badge of Owen Tudor. The story derives from the dragon on LLewelyn the Last's castle grounds.
2017	Unicorn of Scotland	Two unicorns were adopted by the Scottish Royal Arms back i the 16th century, eventually passing to England via James VI of Scotland who became James I of England.
2018	Black Bull of Clarence	The Black Bull derives from Edward IV.
2019	Yale of Beaufort	The Yale was a mythical beast, supposedly white and covered with gold spots and able to swivel each of its horns independently. It descends to the Queen through Henry VII. The portcullis is also a Beaufort badge.
2019	White Lion of Mortimer	The White Lion of Mortimer derives from Edward IV. The shield shows a white rose encircled by a golden sun, known heraldically as a 'white rose en soleil'.
2020	White Greyhound of Richmond	The White Greyhound of Richmond was a badge of John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, son of Edward III. Also used by Henry IV and Henry VII. The Tudor double rose is on the shield, one rose within another surmounted by a crown.
2020	Falcon of the Plantagenets	The falcon was first used by Edward III of the House of Plantagenet as his badge and descended to Edward IV.
2021	White Horse of Hanover	The White Horse of Hanover was introduced into the Royal Arms in 1714 when the crown of Great Britain passed to George I.

Images used by permission of The Royal Mint

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