The Royal Tudor Beasts - The Seymour Unicorn 1 Oz 2024

The Royal Tudor Beasts - The Seymour Unicorn - 1 Oz

The 1 Oz (31.21 g) gold investment coin in 99.99% purest gold, issued by the Royal British Mint for 2024, is the fourth coin in the "The Royal Tudor Beasts" series, which is dedicated to the ten heraldic animals of King Henry VIII. Tudor and his third wife Jane Seymour. The royal bundle is illustrated by the Seymour panther, the lion of England, the greyhound of Richmond, the yale of Beaufort, the Tudor dragon, the Seymour unicorn, the royal dragon, the Queen's lion, the bull of Clarence and the Queen's panther.

The reverse of the coin depicts a crowned unicorn holding an armorial shield divided into sixths, which belonged to the granted privilege of "augmentation of marriage" and refers to Jane Seymour's royal status and lineage. The first field bears the three leopards and lilies of the Kings of England, emblems acquired by marriage to Henry VIII. The second field belongs to the united wings of the Seymours, the third covers the heraldic design of the Vair Beauchamps of Hache, the fourth segment with three lions refers to the Esturms of Wulfhall, the fifth with three roses to the Macwilliams, and the sixth with three leopard's heads to the Cokers. The motif of the coin is conceived in the inner field against a background of fine decorative engraving of guilloches (Guilloche). The description on the rim of the coin states the name of the coin "SEYMOUR UNICORN", the weight and purity of the metal "1 oz - FINE GOLD - 999.9" and the year of issue.
The Royal Tudor Beasts is a series of ten heraldic sculptures, positioned on the bridge leading to the gateway of the Great Tower of Hampton Court Palace in London. The Royal Beasts were chosen by Henry VIII to symbolise the legitimacy of his lineage, his devotion to the throne, the strength of the Tudor dynasty and their association with the House of Seymour. His third marriage to Jane Seymour in 1536 represented a new hope for a dream male offspring and the preservation of the royal family line. The stylized form of the statues was elaborated for the coin series by David Lawrence.
The unicorn is a mythical creature mentioned in the Bible, known to the ancient Greeks, and the belief in its existence persisted for many into the 17th century. The origins of the myth can also be traced back to the Crusades. European knights in the Middle East admired images of exotic antelopes with twisted horns. The way they were captured from a side view gave the impression that the animals had only one horn. They redrawn the unknown creatures in the same way on their war shields, which they then returned to their homeland. The unicorn is most often depicted as a horse with goat hooves and whiskers, a lion's tail and a slender spiral horn on its forehead.
Royal heraldry before the 15th century made little use of this creature. For Jane Seymour, it was chosen primarily for its symbolism of purity and fertility. It thus embodied the great expectation of a new wife, to bear the king a son and heir to the throne. The unicorn was the main shield-bearer of Jane Seymour's royal coat of arms. Its privileged position among Tudor animals is also evidenced by its foreground position at Hampton Court, along with the lion of England. The Seymour unicorn is distinguished from the Scottish unicorn by wearing a royal crown on its head and a floral wreath of white daisies and red roses on its neck. Interestingly, there were two unicorns on Moat Bridge until the early 20th century. However, during structural alterations to the damaged parts of the bridge, it was decided to keep only one of them.

The obverse of the coin bears the first coin portrait of Charles III designed by Martin Jennings with the initials of the artist. The description of the coin states 'CHARLES III - D - G - REX - F - D' and the face value.

This product is part of the following product sets: