The coronation of King Charles III takes place on May 6th. (74) at Westminster Abbey in London. To mark this special occasion, the Royal Mint, the UK’s official mint, has launched a range of commemorative coins. Including a 5 pound coin and a 50 pence coin.
The commemorative coins show King Charles III. with crown. The portrait was designed by artist and sculptor Martin Jennings (65). It is the first crowned portrait of Charles to appear on a coin. The crown is a Tudor crown personally selected by Charles. The crown itself no longer exists, having been destroyed in the 1640s.
“Following my work on His Majesty’s uncrowned coin design, I am delighted to have the opportunity to work on a crowned version for the Coronation series. Every detail of the crown has to be meticulously accurate and it took me a lot of work to get it right,” Jennings is quoted as saying in the Royal Mint’s press release. “I’m proud to have had the opportunity to create a design that does justice to this historic occasion while also celebrating it in a dignified manner.” The reverse of the £5 coin also features a composition by Timothy Noad depicting the symbolic objects used in the coronation ceremony alongside the crown.
The reverse of the 50p coin was designed by Royal Mint designer Natasha Jenkins. It features the iconic Westminster Abbey and Charles’ monogram and crown. “Because Westminster Abbey plays such an iconic role in the coronation, I decided to do a stylized line drawing of Westminster Abbey, which is immediately associated with Britain.”
The range also includes a range of other coins, available in various denominations and sizes, each featuring the crowned effigy of King Charles on the obverse and a design by John Bergdahl on the reverse. All coins are scheduled to go on sale on Monday April 24, 2023.
