The UK’s Royal Mint is about to release the 2016 Britannia 1 oz. Silver bullion coin and distributors are accepting pre-orders for the item, with shipments expected to take place in the middle of November.
The Silver Britannia is composed of an ounce of silver that is 99.9% pure and measures 38.61 mm in diameter; it carries a Brilliant Uncirculated finish.
The coin’s reverse, designed by Philip Nathan, features an image of Britannia, the common allegorical personification of Great Britain. She wears a Corinthian helmet and carries a shield and a three-pronged trident that refers to the country’s prowess as a sea-faring nation. The figure has appeared on British coinage for roughly two millennia. Inscribed around the rim of the coin are BRITANNIA, 2016, 1 oz, and 999 FINE SILVER.
The obverse bears Royal Mint engraver Jodi Clark’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, with ELIZABETH II, D.G. REG. F. D., and the coin’s monetary denomination of 2 POUNDS inscribed along the rim. “D. G. REG. F. D.” is short for Dei Gratia Regina Fidei Defensor, Latin for “By the grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith.”
One-ounce Silver Britannia coins carry a denomination of two pounds; however, as investor coins, their value is tied to their weight in silver (the metal is currently worth $15.98 per ounce according to the London Bullion Market Association). In figuring retail prices for the public, authorized dealers add to the Mint’s base price to cover their own expenses and profit targets, often incentivizing bulk purchases by charging less for coins ordered in large quantities.
The Royal Mint has partnered with APMEX to enter anyone who pre-orders 2016 1 oz. silver Britannias into a drawing to win a 25-piece tube of the coins. Each of the four winners will also receive a certificate of authenticity signed by Jody Clark, designer of the Royal Mint’s most recent effigy of the Queen. Winners will be announced on November 11.
The 2016 Silver Britannia can be pre-ordered here. For more information on the Royal Mint’s bullion program, please visit the Mint’s Web site.
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It’s a pity the Royal Mint choose not to supply us, one of the UK’s leading coin and bullion for over 50 years, direct.
Still, this does leave us free to say the RM coins don’t look as good as their Australian counterparts by the struck by the wonderful Perth Mint.
Their new 2016 budget priced one ounce silver bullion coin, the 2016 Kangaroo replaces the 2015 Crocodile, meanwhile Perth’s other silver bullion range, including 2016 Lunar Calendar Year of the Monkey, and 2016 Kookaburras, continue to look so good, and have such high production quality, that many collectors and investors will think they have received proofs rather than bullion coins.
The Brits will undoubtedly sell well in the UK market, where their USP will remain their Capital Gains Tax Exemption, but will give other bullion mints no serious competition in the world market, unless the Mint decide to stop penny-pinching on the depth or engraving relief, and production quality.
I can assure Adam Lawrence that most collectors will be able to discern the difference in quality and finish over the superior, and premium priced, proof versions.
We also noticed a few geographical errors in your article.
“…the island of Great Britain…”
We are the British Isles (Islands); apart from mainland Britain, there is also Northern Ireland, many Scottish islands, the Isle of Man, and more.
“…the county’s prowess…”
I believe your writer means the country’s prowess. a county is an approximation of an American State.
Although our county system has changed in recent years, there are, or were the last time I counted them, 48 English, 5 Northern Irish, 33 Scottish, and 22 Welsh counties, making 109 in total.
Now if we Brits started talking about the “island of America” or the “State of America”, missing out the other 49 of them, you Americans would wonder what we had been smoking, or what substance we had been abusing.