First British Coins: King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II

When Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 9 after reigning for over 70 years, there were many reports in the media explaining that traditionally coins with portraits of a new monarch do not appear right away and are usually issued after the coronation of the monarch. As a result, most experts did not expect to see coins with King Charles III on them until sometime in 2023, perhaps in the spring.

But on September 30, the mint unexpectedly released the new definitive portrait or effigy of King Charles that will first appear on three denominations of silver commemorative coins issued as memorials of the late Queen – one of which, the 50 pence piece, will also be issued for circulation in copper nickel. By the start of 2023, all new coins struck by the mint will feature this new royal motif.

Coins issued by the countries of the Commonwealth will also start using sometime in 2023 either the same portrait of Charles or their own version as Canada has for decades.

Two Types of 2023 Britannias

But interestingly, this also means that there will for the first time be two obverse types for the silver Britannia coins since the first batch of the 2023 coins have already been produced and are expected to reach U.S. coin sellers by the end of October or sooner. Those coins all feature an obverse with the fifth and last portrait of Queen Elizabeth on them, but the second batch of coins that will be available sometime in 2023 will carry the new effigy of King Charles that was created by renowned British sculptor Martin Jennings.

This creates a situation reminiscent of what happened in 2021 when a new reverse was introduced for the American Silver Eagle. And just as the type 1 reverse 2021 Silver Eagles have lower mintages than the type 2 coins, the same is expected to be the case with the new Britannia silver coins and also the various sizes of gold Britannias the mint issues. However, no specific mintage figures are available, and the mint has a practice of not releasing such figures for bullion issues.Nevertheless, it is likely the first type be will be more scarce and will eventually carry a premium over the type 2 obverse coins.

The new portrait of King Charles III, which according to the mint as explained to Coin World, has been the works for about a year and was selected by the Royal Advisory Committee from among an unknown number of designs that were submitted for a closed design competition – one that was only open to the artists who were invited to participate. After that, Charles had to personally approve the new design.

The new portrait, which conveys the grace, dignity and maturity of the new monarch who has spent more time waiting to assume the throne than any prior British monarch, faces to the left following the longstanding tradition in which each time there is a new monarch, they face in the opposite direction of the previous monarch’s coinage portrait. Coins depicting Queen Elizabeth II always faced to the right.

There are several reasons why it was possible to release the new coinage portrait much sooner than was widely expected. First, since the Queen was of advanced age and the mint typically has on hand portrait of other members of the Royal Family, a plaster model of Charles based on a photograph was created months ago. The lettering and other details were added after the Queen passed.

They include a Latin inscription that surrounds the new effigy - CHARLES III • D • G • REX • F • D • 5 POUNDS • 2022, which translates to “King Charles III, by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith.”

This is the first coin design by Jennings, who is an award-winning sculptor best known for several large bronze sculptures he did of figures such as famed British writers George Orwell and Charles Dickens.

First King Charles Coins/Last Elizabeth Coins

On October 3, the Royal Mint began accepting orders for various versions of three new commemorative coins issued in silver and gold in tribute to the new king’s late mother. They are both the first to feature the new monarch on their obverse and the final coins with new designs to feature Queen Elizabeth II on them.

There was huge interest in these new coins likely from both regular collectors and non-collectors who admired the Queen. Thousands of people waited in queues to order the coins even though they have unlimited mintages.

One of them is a 50 pence coin issued in both copper nickel for circulation and sold in special packaging for collectors in those metals and also in .925 silver as a commemorative. The reverse of this coin is borrowed from that of the 1953 Coronation crown issued by the mint when Elizabeth was crowned queen and features the four quarters of the Royal Arms (heraldic symbols). Inside each of those four shields are symbols of the four nations of the UK: a rose, a thistle, a shamrock and a leek.

Then there is a 1-counce .999 silver £2 coin that has a new portrait of the queen on the reverse and also a .925 silver crown or £5 coin that features a reverse showing two images of her, one is a younger queen from 1952 when she first became queen after her father King George VI passed, and the other an older queen the way she looked toward the end of her life. Above is an inscription for her name, “Elizabeth Regina” and below the years she lived, “1926-2022”. The design also incorporates her royal cypher or monogram. Charles already has his own, which appears all over the country such as on mailboxes. In addition, the edge has incuse lettering for what she said in 1947 during a famous radio broadcast, “Devoted to Your Service”.

Orders will be taken for these three coins through the last day of the year, and then the coins will be struck based on those orders and will begin shipping in 2023, possibly in January but that remains unclear at this point.

Both of the new reverse designs with the Queen were created by British artist John Bergdahl, who also created the design of her on horseback that is featured on the reverse of the 50-pence circulating and silver coins issued for the platinum jubilee, or 70th anniversary of her reign, earlier this year.   

Be sure to check out all our coins with Elizabeth on them, including the popular Britannia coins.