History
First struck in 1987, the Britannia gold coin became an instant classic. Today it marks one of the flagship coins of The Royal Mint and one of the most popular Bullion products. Philip Nathan’s craftsmanship and design reimagined an instantly recognisable icon. His interpretation of the Britannia is commanding and powerful, yet feminine, peaceful and elegant. The design still endures over 30 years later.
2017 commemorates the 30th year since Britannia’s bullion design was launched to market. Sculptor Philip Nathan, the designer of the first Britannia bullion in 1987, envisaged her as a classic and evolving icon.
In these brand new additions to the bullion collection, the iconic design has been updated and now features a speckled radial sunburst at her back.
Britannia gold bullion coins are renowned for their beauty and reliability, with their weight and quality verified at the centuries-old annual Trial of the Pyx.
The Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is one of the oldest and most respected government institutions of Great Britain. Its long operating history, by some estimates over 1100 years, and coupled with its production of many of the world’s most famous coins, like the gold sovereign, has contributed to making it one of the best known and renowned mints in the world. Since 1279 when the mint established its operation in the Tower of London, it has been responsible for the production of coins of the United Kingdom. Its reputation for excellence and trust was further reinforced when Sir Isaac Newton became Master of the Royal Mint. During his tenure at the Royal Mint, he was responsible for moving the British pound to the gold standard.
Today the Royal Mint is not only responsible for minting coins used for circulation in the UK, but is likewise producing official coinage for more than 60 countries in the world. However, the most important and renowned coin ever to come out of its minting presses has without doubt been the sovereign gold coin which even today is being produced at its minting facility in the town of Llantrisant, Wales, UK. The accuracy and quality of the modern gold sovereign coin is the same as it was two hundred years ago, containing 22 karats of fine gold and weighing exactly 7.98805 grams. The popularity of the gold sovereign has likewise not changed, as confirmed in 2014 when the Royal Mint ran out of 2014 sovereign gold coins due to exceptional demand. The gold sovereign is without doubt one of the foremost gold coins ever to be produced and the fact that almost 100,000,000 sovereigns gold coins have been minted since 1957 is a testament to their excellence and trustworthiness. The reputation of the gold sovereign coin as “the chief coin of the world” will live on for centuries, as savvy investors will always prefer to keep a portion of their wealth in gold coins which are secure, liquid and trustworthy.