The Royal Mint’s ‘Myths & Legends’ bullion series moves from Sherwood Forest to Camelot, and adds proof versions

Myths’s and Legends was a new Royal Mint bullion coin series that mined the legend of Robin Hood to produce three designs, ending last year. We’d heard early on that this would be a relatively big series, possibly nine coins in all, so we were curious to see the theme of the next three designs. Late 2022 saw the question answered, when bullion versions of King Arthur appeared on the scene.

What has turned out to be unusual with King Arthur, has been the release later today, of proof variants for the first time. We always considered it a shame that the three Robin Hood designs by Jody Clarke never got the proof treatment, but hopefully, that will come in time (the mint often issues proof and bullion versions in different orders, like it did with Queen’s Beasts). The design by David Lawrence is decent enough, a formal mix of modern and medieval styles, perhaps. Depicting King Arthur, holding Excalibur, we presume, in front of Camelot, it also employs an interesting finish in the background field the mint is calling ‘hexality’. This looks like a form of lenticular processing, and means the coin will reflect light differently as it’s rotated in hand. It will be interesting to see it.

The proof coins are very similar in overall design, although the inscriptions in the reverse face border are different, concentrating on the theme rather than the composition. The strike itself will obviously be superior, exhibiting a much sharper level of definition. The other big change is on the obverse. The bullion coins feature the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, but the proof coins carry Charles III instead.

While the bullion range remains capped at one-ounce, 0.999 silver and one-ounce, 0.9999 gold versions, the proof range apes those, but adds a two-ounce silver, and a quarter-ounce gold to the mix, for a total of four formats (there’s also a base-metal BU version for the casual coin collector). They should be available to purchase from 9am UK-time, and will come boxed with a COA. The bullion versions have been available for some months now.