The Royal Mint expands its gold and silver bullion offerings with Frankenstein, Una & the Lion, and an anniversary Britannia

The Royal Mint has had a busy year with its bullion range, and the last few weeks has seen plenty of activity, starting with an anniversary issue of the ultra-iconic Britannia. It’s joined by a new addition to its Gothic Horror series, and most recently, the 2027 Una & the Lion coin, one that’s a British numismatic classic in its own right. As a note, the coins here all share the same obverse design, although denominations may vary depending on the weights.

Frankenstein’s Monster, a creation of the Victorian author, Mary Shelley, is the second release in this Gothic Horror series. Following an excellent Joel Iskowitz penned Dracula coin released last year, William Webb was given the task of producing the artwork for this release. I’s a good one, although I still give the nod to Mr Fangtastic from the last coin for outright design. Just a gold and silver one-ounce format for this range.

Una & the Lion is an old 1839 Victorian classic by William Wyons, and one we’ve covered numerous times here in the past, and not just via The Royal Mint. It’s basically a reissue of the refreshed interpretation the mint produced back in 2019, and that’s good, as it’s not really one that needs tinkering with. Like Frankenstein’s Monster, there are one-ounce coins, but they’re joined by a 1/4oz gold.

Finally, the 2027 Britannia is the same old Philip Nathan depiction that has adorned the coin on and off for decades. The key difference is that 2027 is an anniversary year, marking 40 years since the coin debuted in gold, and 30 years since silver versions launched. The coin is mostly unchanged, but nestled in the guilloche background pattern is a clever visual trick. On the gold it’s a large ’40’, and on the silver ’30’, marking those anniversaries. There’s also a small numbered wave to the left of Britannia. It’s a nice touch that could perhaps make them a bit more collectible. The range here is much broader, including the return of the one-kilo silver coin, and there’s also the usual platinum offering as well. For those looking for something slightly different, Hong Kong dealer LPM has variants that eschew the large number for a Hong Kong junk boat privy mark.