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Great Britain’s Royal Mint has been producing coinage since 886, so it’s no surprise that it produces multiple high quality bullion coin series. One of the most prominent of that group is the Queen’s Beast series.
Queen Elizabeth II became the monarch over the British Empire on June 2, 1953. During her coronation at Westminster Abbey, ten six-foot statues stood guard outside the church’s doors.
The statues represented the different strands of the new queen’s bloodline, an important element in the confirmation of her ascendancy to the throne. Each statue was a heraldic depiction that unmistakably identified the Queen’s family tree.
The ten original plaster statues now reside at the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec. However, the sigils are memorialized by a beautiful series of gold and silver bullion coins.
The Royal Mint produced the ten-coin Queen’s Beast series between 2016 and 2021. Most years saw two coins released, but the first and last coins in 2016 and 2021 were the only coins that debuted during those calendar years.
All coins in the series have the same obverse. Engraver Jody Clark, who designed the series, created a new depiction of the long-serving monarch that was the fifth version of the queen to appear on British coinage. The reverses of the coins feature their namesake heraldic animal.
The mint released each coin in a variety of sizes, weights, and face values. It is possible to find versions of the Queen’s Beasts in the following denominations:
The initial release in 2016 included only the 2 oz silver and the two gold options. The next year of production, the Royal Mint added the 10 oz silver and the 1 oz platinum. Thus, the 10 oz and platinum versions of the first coin, the Lion of England, actually debuted in 2017.
The silver and gold versions are minted to be .9999 pure, similar to other high-purity bullion coins on the market. However, the platinum Queen’s Beasts have a slightly lower .9995 purity.
All ten coins in the Queen’s Beast series have particular meaning as reflections both of Queen Elizabeth’s ancestry and as an illustrative history of the royals in Great Britain. Thus, each coin is quite special in its own right.
So, let’s walk through the reverse designs for each member of the group.
The Lion of England became a symbol for the entire nation of Great Britain in the 12th century. King Henry I gave Geoffrey Plantagenet a blue shield with three lions on it as a present for the latter’s marriage to Matilda, King Henry’s daughter.
The coin’s depiction features a crowned lion holding a shield embossed with England’s coat of arms with its left forepaw. The lion is sitting back on its hind legs, has one paw in the air, and is clearly roaring. Given the association between this symbol and virtues like bravery and strength, the depiction is entirely appropriate.
Edward III was born in 1312 and ascended to the throne at the age of 15 in 1327. He would go on to reign as Britain’s monarch for more than 50 years, and, needless to say, he was an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II.
His symbol throughout his entire reign was that of a griffin, a mythological creature with the head, wings, and talons of an eagle and the lower body, paws, and tail of a lion. The coin’s depiction features the creature atop Windsor Castle’s Round Tower, the location of Edward III’s birth.
Owen Tudor hailed from a prominent Welsh family when he was born around 1400, but he considerably improved his status when he married Catherine of Valois, the Queen of England, after the death of her husband, Henry V. With Catherine, he would become the father of Edmund Tudor, whose son Henry would become Henry VI and would begin the Tudor dynasty in England.
Owen Tudor used a red dragon as his seal, and the Red Dragon became a synonymous symbol with Wales itself. Thus, the coin features the animal atop the shield of England and looking suitably fierce.
The presence of the unicorn as the national symbol of Scotland dates back to the 1300s. Alexander III adopted it as a symbol of purity, innocence, and strength. As the royal family traces its lineage partially through Scotland, and due to the fact that Scotland is a key portion of the British Isles, it makes sense that it would receive mention during the queen’s coronation.
The coin itself portrays the mythical creature – a horse with a long horn growing from its forehead – astride the coat of arms of Scotland. It also bears a harness adorned with crosses.
The Wars of the Roses were a 32-year period of British civil wars that pitted the House of York and House of Lancaster against one another as each jockeyed for the throne. The House of York ultimately prevailed, and the new king, Edward IV, used a black bull as the sigil of his seal.
Thus, the coin features the strong and powerful animal cast atop the shield of England. As the queen is a direct descendant of Edward, its presence on a coin and in statuary is a no-brainer.
The falcon has been a common symbol for many British kings, including those from both the House of York and House of Lancaster. The symbol’s usage is most prominently associated with Richard III, the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty.
As mentioned, Queen Elizabeth II was a direct descendant of the Plantagenets, and she suitably included a statue of the Plantagenets’ symbol as part of her genealogy. The coin itself is a bit of a meta piece, as it features a falcon sitting atop a shield that features a falcon.
King Henry VII was the very first king of the Tudor dynasty, and his bloodline continues through the present day in King Charles III, Prince William, and Prince Harry. His mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, used an animal known as a yale as her symbol.
The coin itself is a fearsome item. The yale is depicted as a hybrid mythological beast, with antelope horns, boar tusks, horse hooves, and a spotted coat. It is also sometimes said to be the size of a hippopotamus, so it is not a shy or shrinking symbol, but rather a strong and fierce one.
As we said earlier, the queen marked King Edward IV as one of her direct descendants. Edward notably used a white heraldic lion as his symbol as a tribute and nod to his grandmother, who was the scion of the powerful Mortimer family.
The White Lion coin is the second to use a lion, but it is a sideways-facing animal and seems much more heraldic in nature than the Lion of England. It is also clutching a shield with a white rose on it, the recognizable symbol of the House of York.
With the White Horse of Hanover, the Queen pays tribute to another monastic dynasty, the Stuarts. The white horse was a symbol adopted by Queen Anne, the last in the Stuart line, and then her son, George of Hanover – who would become King George I.
The white horse itself is a reference to a tradition about the Saxons, who were said to have rode into England on white horses. The coin itself features the horse rearing triumphantly over a shield with the seal of the House of Hanover.
The final coin in the series pays tribute once again to King Henry VII. More specifically, the greyhound is a symbol associated with Henry’s descendant, John of Gaunt, who himself was a son of Edward III, the Duke of Lancaster, the Earl of Richmond, and the father of Henry IV.
The coin’s image is of the namesake animal, who appears above a shield with the rose of Tudor, symbolizing the Tudor dynasty. The Wars of the Roses pitted family members against one another, but in the end, they remained unified through Queen Elizabeth II.
Needless to say, this series holds great appeal for coin collectors and precious metals investors who want something more than just raw bullion. Each individual coin stands alone as a great collection piece, but obviously, there is even greater value in collecting the entire set.
We’re happy to help you reach that goal. We have a wide selection of Queen’s Beast coins in all five of its versions – from silver to gold to platinum.
JM Bullion now accepts eight different forms of payment. In addition to the traditional credit card, eCheck, and bank wire options, we also accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin if you prefer to use an alternative funding source.
We also offer free shipping for orders over $199, and all of our shipments are insured and secured all the way to your door. Give us a call, send us an email, or connect with our live chat anytime to get started.
