The National Flowers of the United Kingdom

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

The National Flowers of the UK

To recognise the importance of the four countries of the United Kingdom to the King, each is represented on individual coins of our latest release; the 2023 King Charles III Accession Sovereign Series, by their distinctive national flowers: the English rose, the Scottish thistle, the Welsh daffodil and the Irish shamrock. You may recall that upon his accession King Charles III visited each of these home nations.

In this blog, we explore all there is to know about the national flowers of the United Kingdom.

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The 2023 King Charles III Accession Sovereign Range

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

This is a great moment in British history: they have a new monarch (King Charles III) for the first time in over seventy years, and their first king since the mid-twentieth century. There are generations alive today for whom this will be the first time they have uttered the words “God save the king”. In this day-and-age of instant news it’s easy to gloss over just how significant this event is: the last time there was a change of monarch in Britain, the average house price was just under £1,900, wartime rationing was still in place, a pint of beer cost 9p, a pint of milk 4p, and only 8% of households had a fridge. Gold was just over £12 per ounce!

Another exciting first for Britain’s new king’s reign: for the first time in over 200 years of gold sovereign history the accession of a monarch has been commemorated by the striking of commemorative gold sovereign coins. Introducing The 2023 King Charles III Accession Sovereign Range, and in particular, the one-eighth sovereign…

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The Changing Faces of Coin Portraiture

Posted on by Emma Wilde
coin portraiture

 

In an age filled with television, social media and all of the technology we could ask for, it’s hard to imagine a time where people couldn’t ‘virtually’ see each other, including their own Monarch or leader.

However, centuries ago most people would have only seen the face of their leader on a coin, with the obverse side depicting the image of a monarch or leader for thousands of years. We’ll be taking a look back at coin portraiture throughout the ages, and how dramatically this has changed.

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Q&A with Coin Designer Jody Clark

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

Q&A with coin designer Jody Clark

The 2023 King Charles III Greatest Monarchs Gold Sovereign Series features a portrait of King Charles III by artist Jody Clark. Jody Clark also designed the Fifth (and final) Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II which appeared on all of her British coinage from mid-2015 to last year.

Jody has created some incredible designs for Hattons of London, so we decided to speak to him about his creative journey and what it was like to design this important gold sovereign ‘first’ series. Here is what he had to say….

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The Silver Jubilee of King George V

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

The Silver Jubilee of King George V

On 6th May 1935, George V became the first British monarch to celebrate a Silver Jubilee, marking his 25-year reign as the King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India.

As this was the first ever Silver Jubilee celebration in British history, it was a major broadcast event and was celebrated with multiple large-scale events throughout London and the rest of the country.

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