The Queen's Beasts The Lion 1/4 Oz 2016

The Queen´s Beasts - Lion - 1/4 Oz

The 1/4 Oz (7.78 g) gold investment coin in the finest 99.99% pure gold, issued by the British Royal Mint in 2016, is the first coin in the "The Queen's Beasts" series, which is dedicated to the ten heraldic animals of Queen Elizabeth II - the Lion of England, the Griffin of Edward III., The Falcon of the Plantagenets, the Black Bull of the Dukes of Clarence, the Yale of Beaufort, the White Lion of Mortimer, the White Hound of Richmond, the Red Dragon of Wales, the Unicorn of Scotland and the White Horse of Hanover.

The reverse of the coin depicts a roaring lion with a royal crown on its head. The front paw holds the quartered shield of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain - three walking leopards, as the emblem of England, a red lion in leap, as the emblem of Scotland, and a harp, as the emblem of Northern Ireland. The inscription "LION OF ENGLAND", the weight "1/4 oz", the fineness "999.9 FINE GOLD", the year of issue and the designer's initials "JC" complete the coin's rim.
The Queen's Beasts is a series of ten heraldic sculptures created by sculptor James Woodford to mark the Queen's coronation in 1953. Their stylized form for the coin series was created by the talented engraver Jody Clark.
The lion is a traditional symbol of courage and strength, a fearsome yet elegant beast, one of the oldest and most widely used heraldic animals. The first recorded use in England dates from 1127. The blue shield decorated with small golden lions was a gift from Henry I to Geoffroy V of Anjou, who married his daughter Matilda, the only heiress of the English king. Geoffroy became the founder of the Plantagenet family. The name of the family was derived from the twig of the cress bush (Planta genetae in French), which Geoffroy wore as a badge on his helmet. His son Henry II was crowned the first English king of the Plantagenet dynasty in 1154, and his coat of arms featured the lion of England - a golden lion in leap on a red field. The current arms of England, three striding lions (leopards), date from the reign of King Richard I the Lionheart, son of Henry II and grandson of Geoffroy.

The obverse shows a traditional portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by the same artist as the reverse of the coin, with the inscription "ELIZABETH II. D´G´REG´F´D" and the denomination "25 POUNDS".

This product is part of the following product sets: