One of the icons of British coinage, the Gold Crown was inspired by a French coin called the ‘ecu au soleil’, or ‘crown of the sun’, and was first issued in 1526 by that infamous honeymoon addict, King Henry VIII. The English coin was known as the Crown of the Double Rose, and was struck in 22-carat fineness, and had a denomination of five shillings. The double rose signified the union of the Houses of Lancaster and York, and it was flanked to left and right by small crowns over an initial, ‘H’ to the left for Henry, and the wife to the right, like ‘K’ for Katherine of Aragon on early coins.

The Crown has continued to be a part of British coinage in various forms for the next half a millennium, including such classics as the Gothic Crown, designed by Sir William Wyon, and issued in 1847. The Royal Mint issued an updated version of that in 2021 as part of their Great Engravers series. The latest interpretation was designed by Timothy Noad, who we feel has successfully captured the spirit of the original, although we’d love to see the Royal Mint try to do an unbound edge, much like the Monnaie de Paris series ‘From Clovis to Republic’ did well over a decade ago.

The obverse has some nice touches, with five roses breaking up a decorative border, each symbolising a century of the Crowns use. As always with the Royal Mint, the Martin Jennings effigy of King Charles II is the central feature. There are a pair of sterling silver coins sporting the same diameter, but with the piedfort at double the thickness. The proof gold coin is available in two, quarter and tenth ounce variants, and also in a £5 crown format struck in 39.94 grams of 22-carat gold. All are boxed with a COA. A base-metal coin is also available

You might also notice images of a gold frosted finish coin below. Unfortunately, the press pack made no mention of it, but the images were named the ‘Mint Marque Exclusive’, so we’ll update the article with further information when the coin goes on sale in about nine hours time. The denomination suggests it will be another 39.94 gram coin. In summary, a decent, if unadventurous celebration of a classic piece of numismatic history.