As we celebrate the anniversary of His Majesty King Charles III’s accession to the British throne, The Royal Mint has released a new, limited-edition bullion bar range honouring the steadfast British monarchy.
Four Symbols, One Cypher
Beautifully struck with professional craftsmanship, each bar features two designs – one depicting His Majesty The King’s royal cypher and the other an intricate, heraldic design created by Thomas T. Docherty. The combination of King Charles III’s cypher with these heraldic symbols and flowers represents a new era for the United Kingdom, a time of unity, and it reinforces the passing of one generation of the monarchy to the next.
The King’s royal cypher comprises an interlocking ‘C’ and ‘R’ with ‘III’ enclosed within the ‘R’. Each letter in the cypher represents His Majesty’s reign – ‘C’ for Charles, ‘R’ for Rex, which means ‘King’ in Latin, and the ‘III’ represents the third Carolean era. The cypher also pays tribute to King Charles III’s grandfather George VI, as His Majesty’s monogram features the Tudor Crown also used by his grandfather.
The design by Thomas T. Docherty, a product designer at The Royal Mint, features the heraldic symbols and flowers of the United Kingdom surrounding the Tudor Crown in the centre. The crowned Lion of England appears at the top left of the bar, the Unicorn of Scotland is placed at the top right, the Dragon of Wales is located at the bottom right, and the Elk of Northern Ireland is found in the bottom left of the design.
A lion has represented England since at least the reign of Richard I, who many know by the name of ‘Richard the Lionheart’. At the time, three lions represented England in battle on the royal banner of arms and they now represent England on one of the biggest sporting stages of them all, international football. As such, the lion is synonymous with England and the crowned lion in this particular design represents King Charles III. At the top middle of the bar, the Red and White Tudor Rose, a symbol of England for around five centuries, originating with the House of Tudor, accompanies the lion.
A dragon has represented Wales since the fourth century, and the victories and myths of Welsh kings against the Roman forces. Since then, it has become a key part of British folklore and the legends of King Arthur. Located at the bottom middle, a leek accompanies the dragon on this bullion bar. The leek is a popular symbol of Wales that dates back to the sixth century and Wales’ patron saint, David, who ordered his men to strap leeks to their armour to distinguish themselves from the enemy in battle.
A unicorn has been a prominent feature of the Scottish Coat of Arms since 1603, when James I united England and Scotland, though the unicorn had long been the symbol of Scotland. It is said only a king can command a unicorn, therefore the crown placed around the neck of the unicorn in Thomas T. Docherty’s design represents King Charles III as monarch. The unicorn is partnered with a Scottish thistle, which is located to the middle right of the bar.
Part of Scottish heraldry since approximately the late thirteenth century, the thistle has come to represent many things, including the Order of the Thistle, a chivalric order of Scotland comprising the sovereign, sixteen knights and ladies appointed by the sovereign and further knights – usually members of the Royal Family. The honour is awarded to those who have made a remarkable contribution to Scotland and the United Kingdom. The elk is a prominent feature of the Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland, which highlights a union between the islands of Britain and Northern Ireland.
The elk is paired with an Irish clover that is located on the middle left of this bar. The shamrock has represented Ireland on the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom since the 1800 Acts of Union, gaining its prominence from St Patrick’s use of the plant to demonstrate the Holy Trinity during his mission to convert the Irish population. Since its inclusion, the shamrock has become a popular symbol of Ireland across the world.
Limited Mintages
The Royal Celebration Bullion Minted Bar Range features one ounce fine gold and one ounce and ten-ounce fine silver editions of the bar. Securely packaged, each gold bar in this range features a unique serial number.
Each bar is available in limited numbers, with 5,000 one ounce gold editions, 70,000 one ounce silver editions, and 6,000 ten-ounce silver editions available to purchase.