The Queen´s Beasts Series - Investment Coins
The Queen's Beasts series of investment coins features ten heraldic animals from the genealogy of Elizabeth II, created on the occasion of her coronation in 1953. The stylized likeness of the Queen's Beasts was crafted for the coin series by talented engraver Jody Clark.
The Queen's Beasts is a series of ten heraldic sculptures created by sculptor James Woodford. The sculptures were created to mark 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.
