The UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins are part of an intriguing new coin series. That spans ten designs over a similar time. The ten heraldic beasts that guarded Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation more than 60 years ago. It takes inspiration from the coin themes and designs of the illustrious and highly recognized Royal Mint.
James Woodford created them in 1953 for the Westminster Abbey ceremony. The ten creatures were formerly part of the King’s Beasts of notorious English King Henry VIII. They still adorn the moat bridge at his beloved Hampton Court Palace.
Background and History of the UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins
The UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins series contains ten heraldic animals. Including the lion, griffin, bull, falcon, yale, dragon, greyhound, unicorn, and horse. The famous Royal Mint Coin Designer Jody Clark produced these depictions. They include both actual and fantastical creatures for the coin series.
This intriguing and distinctive series began with the Barbary Lion. It has roots in the early Middle Ages. The monarchs of England have had a long-standing historical relationship with this national emblem.
In England, the lion sign was used in royal heraldry before King Richard the Lionheart’s brief. It was a ten-year reign in the later years of the 12th century. King Richard the Lionheart was the first British king called as “lion“.
About the Royal Mint:
The famed British Royal Mint is one of the planet Earth’s oldest institutions still in operation. The Royal Mint began minting coins for England. The early Anglo Saxons, who lived in the 650s A.D., are responsible for this legacy of coin production in England. By the middle of the seventh century, moneyers in London were already producing coins for the kingdom of Essex there.
King Alfred the Great established the London Mint as the Royal Mint’s official headquarters in 886. However, there were still other mints operating all over England at the time. It settled in the Tower of London for good in 1279. The London Mint ran there for an astounding 500 years, practically until the year 1800.
This venerable minting company even has ties to founding founder and famed physicist Sir Isaac Newton. From 1696 until his passing in 1727, he served as the Mint’s Master after having served as its Warden.
He made the crucial decision to switch England from the previous Silver Standard—hence the name of the currency. The Pound Sterling—to the then-new Gold Standard in 1717. For the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth of Nations, the British Royal Mint currently produces both coins and military medals.
During more than a thousand years of British history, this Royal Mint has endured the test of time. Also, it has witnessed a great number of notable kings and queens. It has endured several political upheavals and industrial and technological revolutions. Furthermore, it has seen advances in science and medicine.
Physical Properties of the UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins
Only one troy ounce of the stunning 100 British pounds sterling face value of the UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins is available.
Design
The “obverse” of a coin refers to its front side. The revered British queen and Head of State Queen Elizabeth II. Are portrayed on the UK Queen’s Beasts gold coins. The face value of 100 pounds is also shown on the coin. Every year in the ten-year series, the reverse of the UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins will be different. The legendary and magnificent British lion was on display in the first year. When James I, the Stuart king, ascended to the thrones of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in 1603, this beast upheld the Royal Arms and is revealed to be the crowned golden lion of Historic England.
Since Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1837, The United Kingdom’s coat of arms has been used. It is depicted on a shield that the lion is carrying. The lions of England can be seen on the last and first quarters of this magnificent heraldic shield. The Scottish lion appears on the second quarter of the shield. The harp of Ireland is displayed in the third quarter of the shield to symbolize modern-day Northern Ireland. Moreover, the year of mintage, metal weight, and metal purity may be found on this side of the coin.
Specifications
Only one troy-ounce size is available for these coins. They have the following measurements:
| Mass | Diameter | Thickness | Purity |
| 1 troy oz | 32.69 mm | 2.7 mm | 99.99% gold |
Price
The amazing face value of the UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins is 100 British Pounds Sterling. All of the coins in this series are accepted as legal money. You can use them in In England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This makes them usable for everyday purchases in these countries. However, no one would ever do this in practice because their intrinsic value is considerably higher. The intrinsic value is mainly dependent on their one-ounce gold content and the associated spot price of gold.
The market value is mostly determined by its intrinsic worth. Additionally, there is a sizable premium over the spot price of gold of about $55 per coin. These pertinent intrinsic values serve as the basis for determining the values of portfolios that incorporate them. Due to the Royal Mint’s significant costs associated with their production and distribution, these coins trade at a premium.
Market values of such coins grow and fall in lockstep with world gold prices. Every day the world gold markets are open and trading.
Are UK Queen’s Beasts gold coins permitted in IRA accounts?
The question of whether IRA account assets may be used to purchase these UK Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins. This concerns everyone who is thinking about doing so for retirement-related reasons. Whether or not coins can be legally incorporated into these retirement vehicles is up to the Internal Revenue Service.
When deciding which coins, you can buy and store them in your self-directed IRAs. The IRS applies a strict dual standard system of approval. It depends on both the gold purity of the coins and their collectability nature. You must pre-fund the account with at least $5,000 in IRS-approved bullion gold or silver to open the account in the first place. Once this is completed, you can add subsequent purchases starting at just $1,000 more in such coins and bars. If you happen to have a more traditional sort of IRA account. It is easy to move it over to a precious metals IRA.
Check out the best precious metals IRA providers here.
Conclusion
According to IRS regulations, as soon as your IRA account administrator gets your fresh shipment of metal. They must transship it to a designated third-party depository. Which will vault and store your gold holdings on your behalf. These gold coins have excessively high.9999 purity levels, which is above the IRS’s minimal purity requirement.995 fineness. However, they cannot be used in IRA accounts. This is because of their collectability premium. Which is over $50 higher than the price of a spot per gold coin, is rather substantial.
Her Majesty’s Queen’s Beasts Gold Coins should still be taken into account for other types of retirement and investment portfolios. Even though you cannot add them to your IRA retirement vehicles. You can purchase them directly from the Royal Mint website or buy them from any reputable coin or jewelry dealer. For example, Augusta Precious Metals, is a popular provider of such investments.