Gold British Coins

British Gold Coins

British gold coins are some of the most sought after in the world simply because of the history behind the mint that created them. The Royal Mint of England, originally known as the London Mint, was founded in the late 9th century and has been producing coins of all varieties throughout the UK and the world ever since.

The London Mint was first established by decree of King Alfred the Great, though it was just one of a vast number of mints located in his kingdom. Almost 400 years after it was founded, the mint was moved to the Tower of London where it remained for the next 5 centuries. Throughout its storied existence, the Royal Mint was solely owned by the government of the United Kingdom, but that all changed in 2009 when its assets were sold off to transform the mint from a government entity to private enterprise.

Investors from all over the world love British gold coins as a result of the mint that is backing them. The Royal Mint has technically been in business for more than 1,100 years and is seen as being wholly trustworthy. What’s more, the incredibly unique and intricate designs on the coins are a draw in and of themselves. The Royal Mint also advertises each and every coin they mint as being a piece of a more than 1,000-year history, which is an extremely attractive prospect for a wide variety of investors.

Gold Coin Designs

The Gold Britannia coin, released by the Royal Mint in 1987, is far and away the single most popular coin to have graced the mint’s production lines. The design of this coin is marked by the image of Britannia, an ancient Roman symbol meant to personify the island of Britain. Through the coin’s more than 20 year history, the Britannia has always been present on the coin, but the exact specifications of her image have changed a number of times. The coin’s original design, the Standing Britannia, is present on all coins minted through the first ten years of production. Since then, however, the design has seen a number of subtle changes that add to the diversity of this coin series.

Some other Britannia designs include the Charioteer Britannia (1997), Britannia & The Lion (2001), Helmeted Head Britannia (2003), and the Seated Britannia. Regardless of the subtle, year-to-year differences, the Roman depiction of the personified Britannia is always present on the coin’s reverse. With regard to the frequency of changes to the Britannia’s design, it has recently become clear that the Royal Mint tends to offer design changes on alternating annual releases.

From its release in 1987 up until 2012, the Gold Britannia was available in four sizes; 1 oz, ½ oz, ¼ oz, and 1/10 oz. These coins boasted a purity of .917 which was, in truth, a bit below what evolved into the industry standard .9999 purity. From 2013 going forward, the Royal Mint introduced both a 1/20 oz and 5 oz Britannias. They also improved the purity of their coins from .917 to .9999. This higher purity level was instantaneously heralded as one of the best decisions the Royal Mint has made in recent history and has done well to improve the popularity and demand of their coins.

The Royal Mint’s Lunar series of coins is a recent addition to their product offering and is meant to celebrate, of all things, the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The Royal Mint first introduced the Lunar Series in late 2013 and began production with the 2014 1 oz British Gold Horse. This coin is meant to celebrate the year of the horse and is touted as being a good luck charm for whoever possesses it.

Packaging & Availability

With regard to most Royal Mint coins (Britannias & Lunar Series) the most popularly and frequently found size is a 1 ounce coin. Despite the Britannia being found in 6 different sizes now, the 1 oz coin is still an investor and collector favorite simply because of its standard size and weight.

Because the Royal Mint produces an absolutely insane number of gold coins annually, they are readily available at most every time of the year. These coins are minted according to perceived demand, and, so long as people are still buying gold coins as frequently as they are today, they will continue to be minted in massive quantities.

We package all British gold coins according to the size of your order. Individual coins will be provided with a protective vinyl coin flip. More sizeable orders will be shipped in their original tubes as they are from the mint. Every order we ship will be dispatched in discreet packaging as to not draw any unnecessary, unwanted attention and as a means of ensuring the safety of your order.