Prince Charles is 70 and the Royal Mint issues another Royal coin to celebrate

GOLDSILVER

2018 PRINCE CHARLES 70TH BIRTHDAY

It’s certainly been a busy few years for the Royal Mint with regards to royalty-themed numismatics. A seemingly never ending procession of weddings, births, birthdays and landmarks has led to a seemingly never ending procession of new coins in celebration.  There are no signs of a slowing down either. Meghan is preggers, so expect an issue when that one appears, but the subject today is the prince that’s been waiting to get his hands on the throne, Charles, Prince of Wales.

Created by engraver Robert Elderton, the reverse features a classic effigy, much like the Jody Clark penned Queen Elizabeth II effort that sits on the obverse of this, and pretty much every other UK coin. Elderton was also responsible for designs for the 40th anniversary of The Queen’s coronation in 1993 and a portrait of HRH The Duke of Sussex on his 21st birthday. Charles will be 70 years old on Wednesday 14th November and this is a birthday coin.

Six formats are on offer, although one is a base-metal version that we won’t bother with here. As a £5 coin, the standard diameter of 38.61 mm applies to the 1oz and piedfort 2oz sterling silver versions, the 39.94 gram 22kt gold coin and the circa-3oz platinum. Strangely enough, the ¼oz platinum coin carries a denomination of £25, so five times the value of the 94 gram platinum coin even though it weighs only one-twelfth as much.

Packaging is the usual good-quality stuff the mint is known for. Polished wood boxes for the gold and platinum coins, with a lighter quality black box employed for the silver. All coins get a serialised certificate of authenticity. Prices are pretty high of course. The silver coins come in at £82.50 and £155.00, the gold at £1,950.00, and the platinum at £460.00 and £4,000.00. Available now.

SPECIFICATION
VARIANT Std silver Piedfort silver Std gold ¼oz platinum Std platinum
DENOMINATION £5 UKP £5 UKP £5 UKP £25 UKP £5 UKP
COMPOSITION 0.925 silver 0.925 silver 0.9167 red gold 0.9995 platinum 0.9995 platinum
WEIGHT 28.28 grams 56.56 grams 39.94 grams 7.846 grams 94.20 grams
DIMENSIONS 38.61 mm 38.61 mm 38.61 mm 20.00 mm 38.61 mm
FINISH Proof Proof Proof Proof Proof
MINTAGE 3,500 1,000 300 650 70