A dive into the medieval history of Britain as the Queen’s Beasts give way to those of a king. The Tudor Beasts debuts in style.

We think it’s fair to say that the Royal Mint’s ‘Queen’s beasts’ series has been one of the most popular and admired coin series in recent years, especially in the bullion realm. Earlier this year we saw the mint debut a new bullion coin series called ‘Myths & Legends’, starting with Robin Hodd. Speculation was that this would be the spiritual replacement for the Queen’s Beasts, but it has remained a bullion only serie. Today sees the actual successor released.

Tudor Beast’s has an identical base concept. Take ten of the most powerful and iconic heraldic beasts from history, and then have a talented coin designer re-interprete them for a numismatic canvas. The Queen’s Beasts dipped back in time just a few decades, but for this series we’re going back half a millennia for inspiration. Let’s be honest, if it’s iconic British history and imagery you’re looking for, the reign of King Henry VIII is a great place to head to.

This will again be a ten coin series, released over the next five years. The first of them will be the Seymour Panther, and the design is taken from statues (King’s Beasts) on the Moat Bridge of Hampton Court Palace, a beautiful building put up by Cardinal Thomas Wolseley from 1514, and gifted to Henry VIII as an attempt to regain his favour. The palace remains in royal hands to this day. It’s a fantastic material source for the series.

The coin designs this time are by Royal Mint regular, David Lawrence. It’s good to see a change to differentiate from Jody Clark’s style and keep some variety. It’s a simply beautiful piece. Tudor heraldry is stunning and this is a fine interpretation, both clean and recognisable. The Seymour Panther was originally a Boleyn Leopard, but Henry had it changed and gifted to Jane Seymour after Anne Boleyn went on a crash diet with the help of an executioner.

As always, there’s a comprehensive range on offer, and as always, they aren’t cheap. Proof silver coins encompass the range from one-ounce to two-kilos, while gold goes from a quarter ounce to two kilos over seven coins. Prices range from a snack at Hampton Court Palace, to buying Hampton Court Palace… Bullion versions will be incoming shortly, and we predict those will be warmly received. A terrific debut, we like this one a lot, both in concept and execution. Available right now.

PRESS RELEASE

The Royal Mint, the original maker of UK coins, and Historic Royal Palaces have today unveiled a new range of collectable and bullion coins celebrating The Royal Tudor Beasts. The first coin in the collection, the Seymour Panther, was unveiled at Hampton Court Palace– where the original Royal Beasts still welcome visitors today.

The Royal Tudor Beasts collection will be released over five years, with customers able to build their very own collection celebrating the ten beasts chosen by King Henry VIII to line the Moat Bridge of Hampton Court Palace.

The collectable and bullion collection celebrating The Royal Tudor Beasts follows on from The Royal Mint’s Queen’s Beasts Collection that celebrated the ten ancestral beasts that lined the entrance to Westminster Abbey at Her Majesty The Queen’s coronation.

Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint said: “We are delighted to be introducing a new range of collectable and bullion coins celebrating The Royal Tudor Beasts – the ten beasts chosen by Henry VIII. This exciting new range has been developed with Historic Royal Palaces and follows on from our popular Queen’s Beasts range.

To celebrate the launch, we felt it was only right to unleash the first beast, the Seymour Panther, at the original home of the Royal Tudor Beasts – Hampton Court Palace. We hope collectors across the globe are equally as excited as we are for the launch of our latest range of collectable and bullion coins.”

 

 

 

Emma Saunders, Senior Licensing Manager at Historic Royal Palaces commented: “We are very proud to be launching another new collection of coins in partnership with The Royal Mint. The Seymour Panther is inspired by one of the majestic Royal Beasts on the Moat Bridge at the entrance to Hampton Court Palace and symbolises the union of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour.

As an independent charity, each sale of Historic Royal Palaces’ collectible coins helps support our cause and contributes to the future of the incredible buildings and collections in our care, which is more important now than ever before.”

The whole collection has been designed by artist David Lawrence. Each coin design is a unique balance of the naturalistic elements of the creatures with a stylised, heraldic depiction incorporated into the design.

David Lawrence, designer of The Royal Tudor Beasts said: “It was an honour to be chosen to depict the heraldic beasts on a coin and bullion collection as well as a huge challenge. Each royal beast comes down to us with centuries of heritage and meaning attached to them, so my task was to find a new vision that is still true to the past.”

The Seymour Panther was a heraldic symbol belonging to Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife. Given to her by the king from the treasury of royal beasts, it is thought that a panther had been part of the collection since the reign of Henry IV. As Henry VII’s mother, Margaret, was a Beaufort and a panther also appeared on the Duke of Beaufort’s arms, both Henry VII and Henry VIII used the beast as a symbol of their lineage.

WHERE TO BUY PAGE

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER MAX MINTAGE PRICE
£2 UKP 0.999 SILVER 31.21 g 38.61 mm 7,010 £95.00
£5 UKP 0.999 SILVER 62.42 g 38.61 mm 2,006 £185.00
£10 UKP 0.999 SILVER 156.295 g 65.00 mm 306 £465.00
£10 UKP 0.999 SILVER 312.59 g 65.00 mm 156 £885.00
£500 UKP 0.999 SILVER 1’005.00 g 100.00 mm 72 £2,330.00
£1,000 UKP 0.999 SILVER 2,010.00 g 100.00 mm 56 £4,995.00
£25 UKP 0.9999 GOLD 7.80 g 22.0 mm 1,010 £650.00
£100 UKP 0.9999 GOLD 31.21 g 32.69 mm 560 £2,440.00
£200 UKP 0.9999 GOLD 62.42 g 40.00 mm 356 £4,650.00
£500 UKP 0.9999 GOLD 156.295 g 50.00 mm 131 £11,125.00
£500 UKP 0.999 GOLD 312.521 g 65.00 mm 31 £22,250.00
£1,000 UKP 0.999 GOLD 1005.00 g 100.00 mm 14 £67,500.00
£2,000 UKP 0.999 GOLD 2010.0 g 150.00 mm 5 £147,250.00