The Royal Tudor Beasts - The Tudor Dragon 1/4 Oz 2024

The Royal Tudor Beasts - The Tudor Dragon - 1/4 Oz

The 1/4 Oz (7.78 g) gold investment coin in 99.99% purest gold, issued by the Royal British Mint for 2024, is the fifth 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 shows a dragon firmly clutching the Beaufort coat of arms, an important political and power emblem. The shield bears what is known as the "Beaufort Portcullis", a trapdoor with interlaced chains. The heraldry of the coat of arms refers the Tudor family line to Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, who is regarded as the matriarch with a key influence in the establishment of the royal dynasty. The coin's design 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 "TUDOR DRAGON", the weight and purity of the metal "1/4 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 Great Tower Gate 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 dragon is one of the mythical creatures in heraldry. Its form was probably inspired by exotic animals such as snakes, lizards and bats.
The Tudor dragon has its origins with Owen Tudor, great-grandfather of Henry VIII, who adopted it as one of his symbols to emphasise his Welsh roots. The dragon linked him to the lineage of the rulers of the Duchy of Gwynedd in Wales until the 7th century. After the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Henry VII used a red dragon on a white and green field as his emblem when he triumphantly entered St Paul's Cathedral. It was probably for this reason that the Tudor dragon was very similar to the dragon of Wales, according to surviving sources. The head, body, and bat wings were covered in crimson, contrasting with the golden underbelly. The perching of the Tudor dragon on the left side of the moat bridge to Hampton Court Palace served as a symbol of valour and bravery, taking on the role of a vigilant sentinel ready to protect the entrance gate.

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: