Description
Honouring a beloved queen on the first anniversary of her passing
On Monday 19th September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest. Her state funeral was the first held in Britain since Winston Churchill’s in 1965. The funeral service at Westminster Abbey was followed by a procession that featured around 3,000 military personnel, and around a million people lined the route through central London. The state hearse then transported the Queen’s coffin to Windsor, where after a committal service at St George’s Chapel. The Queen was interred with her husband, Prince Philip, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel.
The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II marked the culmination of 10 days of national mourning, during which time the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force readied themselves to perform a role rehearsed over many years. It was a final act of dedication to their late Commander in Chief.
The design of these new coins recall the impressive Memorial Procession, a key part of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The coins pay tribute to each of these three services using a triple-finish Proof minting technique to create a silhouetted ‘row’ of service personnel on each coin, to acknowledge the formed rows of each of the three services who took part in the actual procession.
Her Late Majesty and our Armed Forces
As head of the Armed Forces, the queen had a keen interest in her regiments and highly valued their commitment and discipline. Herself a member of the Auxiliary Training Service (ATS) during the Second World War, she was the first female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time active member.
The Queen held over fifty ranks and appointments in the UK and Commonwealth Armed Services and took special pleasure at attending the Trooping the Colour on her official birthday in June every year. At many state occasions, she was surrounded by members of the military, emphasising the close relationship between the queen and her armed forces.
Each coin features one of the services that played such an important role in the queen’s funeral procession:
QUARTER SOVEREIGN • ROYAL NAVY: The quarter sovereign features a silhouetted row of Royal Navy seamen representing all naval personnel who took part in the queen’s funeral. Following a tradition dating back to the funeral of Queen Victoria, around 140 Royal Navy sailors pulled the gun carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin. These included personnel from the RNAS Culdrose, RNAS Yeovilton, HM Submarines, HMS Sultan and HMNB Portsmouth.
HALF SOVEREIGN • ARMY: The Half Sovereign features a silhouetted row of Grenadier Guardsmen, the most senior of the Foot Guards regiments, representing all those in the British Army who took part in the procession. Soldiers of the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, were given the honour of acting as the coffin’s bearer party because of their unique association with the monarch.
SOVEREIGN • ROYAL AIR FORCE: A silhouetted row of RAF airmen are depicted on the Sovereign. In addition to marching in the procession, the regular RAF bands provided continuous music throughout the procession, including funeral marches by Beethoven, Mendelsohn and Chopin. Big Ben tolled for the duration of the procession, which marched at 75 paces to the minute, a speed reserved for funerals.
Triple-finish Proof minting technique creates coins of great beauty
To emphasise the thousands of military personnel that took part in the funeral procession, the design on this new set of gold coins is particularly special. By using triple-finish Proof minting these coins simulate rows of service personnel by lining up a sculpted ‘main’ figure against outlines in gleaming mirror finish and frosted finish. The result is a coin of beautiful contrast, and when this is minted onto lustrous 22 carat gold the result is truly superb.
A fitting tribute to one of Britain’s greatest monarchs
All these features make these coins desirable to own. Now that the emotions of The Queen’s sad passing have settled and we approach the anniversary of her death, many people are looking for a way to memorialise her incredible reign and remember how we all felt a year ago, watching the state funeral of a queen loved and admired around the world.
The monumental sight of massed bands and marching regiments, the magnificent effort of transporting the coffin atop the traditional gun carriage, the colour and sound and dignified splendour of it all left us in no doubt that the funeral procession of Elizabeth II would be something to remember. It was an incredibly impressive display and the embodiment of tradition – Britain rose to the occasion and gave a beloved monarch a fitting send-off.
Authorised by Ascension Island and approved by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Buckingham Palace, it is a fitting tribute to one of Britain’s greatest ever monarchs.
The sale of every coin in this new series benefits SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, of which Queen Elizabeth II was Patron for the entirety of her reign
SAFA, the Armed Forces charity, provides welfare and wellbeing assistance to our forces and their families. This is a charity which the late Queen Elizabeth II supported from the very start of her reign, taking her father’s place as Patron upon his death in 1952. In recent years, even when Her Late Majesty was reducing her workload, she remained as Patron of SSAFA, actively supporting their work and retaining a keen interest in the people and families they helped.
All coins purchased from the 2023 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Gold Sovereign Series will support SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, and the continuation of their welfare and wellbeing assistance to our forces and their familie
s. 10% of all net profits will be paid in support of SSAFA.
