Silver Investment Coin The Queen's Beasts 2 Oz 2021

The Queen´s Beasts Completer - 2 Oz

The 2 Oz (62.2g) silver investment coin in 99.99% purest silver issued by the Royal British Mint in 2021 provides a comprehensive look back at the unique The Queen's Beasts series.

The coin features all ten of Elizabeth II's heraldic animals on its reverse. Their design was adapted by the series' creator, Jody Clark, to frame the rosette window of the Gothic cathedral, which refers to the original placement of the statues outside Westminster Abbey. The animals are shown clockwise in the order of issue of the investment coins - the lion of England, the red dragon of Wales, the griffin of Edward III, the unicorn of Scotland, the black bull of the Dukes of Clarence, the falcon of the Plantagenets, the Yale of Beaufort, the white lion of Mortimer, the white horse of Hanover and the white greyhound of Richmond. The usual coat of arms in this case is replaced, set in the centre of the rosette, by the portrait of Elizabeth II, which is borne on the obverse of coins struck in Great Britain. The description of the inner circle includes the name of the series "THE QUEEN'S BEASTS", the year of issue "2021" and the weight and purity of the metal "FINE SILVER .9999". The initials of the author "J.C." are also included.
The Queen's Beasts is a series of ten heraldic sculptures created by sculptor James Woodford. The statues were created to commemorate the coronation of the young Queen in 1953. They were placed in front of the glass wall of the West Annexe at Westminster Abbey. Endless processions were able to view the white statues with their coloured shields before the coronation began. The heraldic animals represented the genealogy of the Queen and her links to royal ancestors in the long history of the British monarchy.
The plaster statues could not be exposed to the weather for long periods of time. After the event they were moved to the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace and then to St George's Hall at Windsor. In 1959 they found a home in the British Dominion, Canada. On the centenary of Canadian Confederation, the originally white animal statues also received heraldic colours. Today, the original series of The Queen's Beasts statues are in the care of the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau. The 1958 stone replicas are installed at Kew Gardens Botanic Gardens in London.

The obverse depicts Jody Clark's portrait of Elizabeth II, which is the fifth and definitive coin portrait of the Queen. It includes the artist's initials 'J.C.', the inscription 'ELIZABETH II. D.G. REG.F.D." and the face value.

This product is part of the following product sets: