Capturing The Queen’s Beasts 

 

The Queen’s Beasts Collection has been an exploration into the fantastic and heraldic creatures that symbolise Her Majesty The Queen’s historic ancestry. From a fierce dragon to a mysterious yale, this group of beasts stood guard as statues outside Westminster Abbey at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. These symbolic and awe-inspiring creatures have long captured the imagination of audiences and have been reimagined by contemporary coinage artist Jody Clark. 

Now, after the release of ten coins, with each focusing on one of these mythical beasts, the collection is drawing to a close with the release of the coin that completes this iconic bullion collection. The last coin in the series features Jody Clark’s final homage to all of The Queen’s Beasts on the reverse. 

You will most likely know Jody Clark as the creator of the definitive coinage portrait of The Queen that has featured on all United Kingdom circulating coins since its introduction in 2015. He is one of the youngest designers to have created a definitive coinage portrait of the monarch and his designs often appear on both sides of our coins.

With a particular skill for bringing a modern flair to traditional subjects, Jody Clark is the designer behind several iconic designs that have featured on coins struck by The Royal Mint. For The Queen’s Beasts Collection, his designs have brought the true wildness and nature of the beasts to life, whilst maintaining their heraldic details. For the final coin in the collection, he gathers all of The Queen’s Beasts in a protective circle around a portrait of Her Majesty The Queen, watching over her as they did during her coronation. Each beast stands regally in miniature – proud yet wild – and they each place a paw, claw or hoof on the coin’s central banner. 

So long after releasing the coin that featured the Lion of England, the design that began this iconic collection, Jody Clark describes bringing this series to a close: 

“The design had to incorporate a great deal of detail. A symmetrical arrangement seemed the best approach, making it much easier for the eye to absorb the detail of all ten beasts. It was very rewarding to bring such a demanding but inspiring series to a close, with a coin bringing all the beasts I’ve worked on individually into one celebratory design.” 

Jody Clark 

The final bullion coin in the iconic Queen’s Beasts Collection is available now. To explore The Queen’s Beasts and complete your collection, click here.