King Charles I joins King Charles III on the sixth in the Royal Mint’s ‘British Monarchs’ proof coin series

The Royal Mint’s 21-coin, 5-year ‘British Monarchs Collection’, bringing back to life classic coin designs from British history, returns with a sixth issue, and it’s from the Stuart dynasty this time. Covering the Tudor, Stuart, Hanover, and Saxe-Coburg, Gotha & Windsor dynasties, the series works through them in sequence with a single release, returning to the start after four coins, thus, this is the second Stuart coin to date.

Charles I is most famous for being beheaded, the final act in a civil war with the forces of parliament, and one that settled once and for all where ultimate power resided in Britain. A little clue for you – it wasn’t the guy whose head was being used as a football… Nevertheless, the victor, Oliver Cromwell, was no more popular than Charles was, and the monarchy was reinstated not long after, when Charles II was brought back to sit on the throne again, although with curtailed power.

We said last time that, on the evidence to date, we’re liking the Tudor and Stuart coins best, because they invoke history better than the later dynasty issues do, and this new offering does nothing to dispel that opinion. Apparently the only one of the 21 coins to feature an equestrian (horseback) image, it’s a fine looking design, only spoiled slightly by the prominent rim that’s missing from the original. The George I design handled it a little better, we feel. King Charles III’s head is on the obverse, an ironic swap with Charles I on the reverse, depicted with his still attached.

No changes to the four silver (1, 2, 5, 10 oz) and three gold (1, 2, 5 oz) formats, all boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. Previous issues have also seen a two-coin set, based around a two-ounce gold coin, along with an original historical coin, but our press release didn’t mention one this time. That isn’t to say one won’t be there today, so keep an eye out for it. We’d have no idea on price, as it depends heavily on how valuable the original coins are. Available to buy later today, it’s a very nice issue. To see the full range to date, check out our neat Coin Series Profile.

PRESS RELEASE

The Royal Mint, official maker of UK coins, has unveiled the sixth coin in its British Monarchs Collection, featuring a remastered portrait of Charles I based on an original coin produced in the 1630s. This is the sixth coin in The British Monarchs Collection and the latest launch from the House of Stuart.

The coin features the only equestrian portrait in The British Monarchs Collection. As with the other coins in the collection, The Royal Mint’s talented design team combined their exceptional craftsmanship skills with innovative technology to successfully remaster Charles I’s original portrait. The Charles I portrait is an original design by Nicholas Briot which has been beautifully remastered to show the coin as it would have appeared almost 400 years ago.

Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint, said: “We are pleased to add Charles I to the popular British Monarchs Collection. There has been significant international appeal with The British Monarchs Collection, with its coins being bought by collectors all over the world.

The design team has worked diligently to faithfully recreate Charles I’s original portrait with great attention to detail, using state-of the-art technology and numismatic processes.”

Charles I reigned between 1625 and 1649, succeeding his father, James I and was the second Stuart King of England. In 1603, James VI of Scotland became the King of England, thus combining the two thrones for the first time.

British coinage during the reign of Charles I underwent various changes. The Tower of London ceased to strike dates on sixpences, a method first introduced during the reign of Elizabeth I to distinguish the coin from the groat. The output of gold coinage decreased, and the angel was the sole fine gold coin in circulation by the end of Charles I’s reign. A popular coin, many believed that once the monarch had touched an angel coin, it would protect the owner from scrofula and offer a cure for this prevalent disease.

PROOF GOLD
DENOMINATION £500 UKP £200 UKP £100 UKP
COMPOSITION 0.9999 gold 0.9999 gold 0.9999 gold
WEIGHT 156.30 grams 62.42 grams 31.21 grams
DIMENSIONS 50.0 mm 40.0 mm 32.69 mm
LEP MINTAGE 20 50 100
MAX MINTAGE 56 106 610
PROOF SILVER
DENOMINATION £10 UKP £10 UKP £5 UKP £2 UKP
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver 0.999 silver 0.999 silver 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 312.59 grams 156.30 grams 62.86 grams 31.21 grams
DIMENSIONS 65.0 mm 65.0 mm 40.0 mm 38.61 mm
LEP MINTAGE 100 250 600 1,350
MAX MINTAGE 156 281 756 1360