Speak of The Royal Mint, an old mint that everyone in Britain is proud of. The Mint not only undertakes the manufacture of coins circulating in the United Kingdom and many countries, but also issues many commemorative coins with themes and materials every year. Some of the subject matter and designs are so imaginative that you wonder if this is a coin issued by the dreary people of the gloomy island nation. But when you look at more of their coins, you will smile, which reflects the sullen mentality and feeling of the British?
As a collector who had tried to collect all the modern coins of the Royal Mint (well, I admit to excluding gold and platinum coins for budget reasons), I gave up on this goal in a short time, because there were so many varieties, especially in the past few years, it felt like a new variety would be launched every two days, which was really tiring. But in any case, in recent years, there is a subject that I have been following with great interest, and every time I get a new variety, I must go through the history books, which makes me particularly satisfied. This theme is the "The Queen's Beasts" series that I want to talk to you about today.
Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, when ten statues of mythical beasts guarded the entrance to Westminster Abbey, creating a very sacred and solemn atmosphere. The choice of these ten divine beasts, whether it is a lion or a unicorn or other divine beasts that exist or do not exist in reality, is actually not chosen by looking at appearance or temperament at all, each of these ten divine beasts is rich in historical significance, they are symbolizing the glorious origin and history of the British royal family, and fully show the ancestral blood of a young woman who is about to be crowned queen.
Since 2016, even the Royal Mint, which has not spared the theme of Paddington Bear and Gollum Cow, has begun to mint a series of divine beast coins, with the elderly head of the Queen of England on the front and the divine beasts posing in their own posture on the reverse. Each mythical beast motif comes in a different denomination and material, from 5 pounds for copper-nickel coins, silver coins (1, 2, 5, 10 ounces and 1 kg), gold coins (1/4, 1, 5 ounces and 1 kg) to platinum coins (1 ounce), making people shine and take what they need. But the disadvantage is that the same mythical beast of different denominations or materials of coins may be scattered in different years, which is really a bit dizzying, well, this is not the zodiac sign can only correspond to one a year, it is completely understandable. Below, according to the order in which these divine beasts appear on the coin, let's introduce it to you.
The Lion of England, released in 2016, was the first to appear, and it is indeed the deserved boss. From the reign of Edward IV (reigned 1461-1483), the golden lion wearing the crown was the shield bearer of the royal coat of arms, and at the same time appeared in the coat of arms pattern, it is accurate to say that the english coat of arms should be represented by three faces looking to the left of the front with a crown golden lion, which can be seen in the upper left corner (the first quadrant of the coat of arms) and the lower right corner (fourth quadrant) on the coat of arms of England, the upper left corner represents England, and the lower right corner pattern is exactly the same but represents Wales. The earliest use of this lion motif as a personal coat of arms mark is said to be the English King Conqueror William I (reigned 1066-1087), but it was the lionheart King Richard I (reigned 1189-1199) with a great chivalrous temperament that carried forward the glory, precisely because on the battlefield the knights were fully armed and wrapped themselves tightly, the enemy and we could not identify the opponent and friendly forces, and could only distinguish between the armor, shield and the flag with eye-catching marks. Thus this motif represents the individual and the family, and eventually the concept of heraldry is formed. Since then, the golden lion with the crown on its head has always been the symbol of the British king, although in the following centuries due to the dispute with the territory of the Kingdom of France, the merger of Scotland and Ireland, etc., the royal coat of arms has been constantly changing, but the lion symbolizing England has always been the most important and basic heraldic pattern. Here undoubtedly appears as the boss of the Ten Divine Beasts, the lion on the coin face dances with its teeth and claws, while firmly guarding the royal family's coat of arms and emblem, it is indeed full of momentum.
This was followed by a second beast, The Red Dragon of Welsh, in 2017. Wales was conquered by England very early, although there have always been different voices in history, but from the royal coat of arms even the coat of arms representing Wales has been assimilated into the same as England, it can be seen that its sense of existence is really weak. But the sacred beasts representing Wales are not ambiguous, and the red dragon is still very imposing and very atmospheric, because in myths and legends, dragons are always associated with strength, wisdom and power. The Red Dragon is the symbol of owen Tudor in the fifteenth century, and the army of Owen's grandson Henry Tudor, who held high the banner of the Red Dragon, killed the then King Richard III of England (reigned 1483-1485) at the Battle of Bosworth (22 August 1485), and Henry won the throne called Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509). Founded the Tudor dynasty (1485-1603). Since then, the red dragon of Wales has begun to appear in the history of the royal family, and has a place in the Queen's Mythical Beast series, emphasizing the Queen's power inheritance from Wales. The red dragon on the coin is spreading its wings and does not forget to guard the four lions coat of arms of gold and red, which is the coat of arms of The last native prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, which has become the official coat of arms of Wales to this day.
The third is The Griffin of Edward III, also released in 2017. The griffin is an ancient mythical beast in legend, with wings and limbs at the same time (which is very unscientific, and KFC must have loved it). Legend has it in ancient Egyptian and Persian art since 3000 BC that it was responsible for guarding gold mines and hidden treasures, so its name is often associated with courage, strength, and guarding, vigilance, agility, and keen insight. Edward III (reigned 1327-1377) must have favored the appearance and meaning of the griffin, and he engraved the griffin on his personal seal. The griffin on the coin face stood majestically on the shield emblem, its wings spread, and it felt like it was about to take off and impact in the next second. The coat of arms below is not Edward III's coat of arms, but is clearly closely related to him, the round tower is the Windsor Castle where Edward III was born, the tower hangs the current king flag, the tower is surrounded by oak branches on both sides and the crown above, representing the meaning of protection.
Well, in the next issue, we will continue to introduce the remaining Divine Beasts and Divine Beast Coins, and guess who should be the next to appear?