Description
The Gold Britannia is one of the most beautiful coin designs available in the 21st century, but it has been known around the world for more than three centuries. The Britannia appeared regularly on British coinage starting in the 18th century and throughout British colonies in the Far East starting in the 19th century.
Coin Highlights:
- 2nd issue of Gold Britannias with the oriental border design!
- Limited mintage of only 5,000 coins!
- Contains 1 Troy oz of .9999 pure gold in BU condition.
- Bears a face value of 100 (GBP) backed by the government of Britain.
- On the obverse is Queen Elizabeth II.
- The reverse includes Britannias image with an oriental border design.
The use of an oriental border design on these Gold Britannias is inspired by the British Trade Dollar issued by Royal Mint facilities in India and the Far East in the 19th century. Following the First and Second Opium Wars in China, in which the British were victorious, ports in China were forced open by the United Kingdom. To avoid the use of British colonial currency in these port cities, British Trade Dollars were issued that often featured Britannia and included an oriental border design.
On the reverse of 1 oz British Gold Oriental Border Britannia Coins is the image of Britannia from Philip Nathan in 1987. Nathans design was the winning artwork in 1987 competition hosted by the Royal Mint to find a new Britannia image for the nations official bullion coinage. This Britannia design has featured on the gold coin since 1987 and a silver version since 1997.
The obverse of British Gold Oriental Border Britannia Coins includes the right-profile portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Englands longest reigning monarch features here in the fifth-generation portrait created by Jody Clark in 2015. Since 2018, the Royal Mint has used a guilloche background design behind the Queens portrait on most major bullion programs as well.
