Spain: New commemorative silver Brilliant Uncirculated coin marks 18th birthday of Crown Princess Leonor

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The Fabrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre — Real Casa de la Moneda has launched new silver commemorative coins which mark the 18th birthday of Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Leonor of the Asturias. This birthday is especially important to not only the royal family but also to the constitutional monarchy of Spain. As this birthday marks her coming of age, the crown princess will swear allegiance to the Constitution of the Congress of Deputies and her father, His Majesty King Felipe VI. She will also become eligible to take part in cabinet meetings as a counsellor of state and officiate for her father in his absence. From the day of her 18th birthday, should anything untoward occur to the health or safety of the king, Crown Princess Leonor would now reign in her own right without the need for a regent. When Crown Princess Leonor does become Queen, she will be only the third female crowned head of state since the Spanish crowns of Castile and Leon united with Aragon in 1492. The last Queen Regnant, Isabel II, reigned from 1833 until her abdication in 1868.

Born on the 31st October 2005, Leonor de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz is the eldest child of the-then Prince of the Asturias, Felipe, and his wife, Crown Princess Letizia. Upon the accession to the Spanish throne Felipe, after the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos, in June 2014, his eldest daughter, as the heir presumptive, became crown princess. On the same day of her father’s accession, Princess Leonor was bestowed with the title Princess of the Asturias, the traditional title of the Spanish heir apparent or presumptive.

On the 4th November 2019, she delivered her first speech at the Princess of Girona Foundation Awards in Barcelona, in which she spoke in Spanish, Catalan, English, and Arabic. In August this year, Crown Princess Leonor, simply known as “Cadet Bourbon-Ortiz,” began her first year of training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. In preparation for her presumed role as Spain’s head of state and head of the military, she is expected to follow in her father’s footsteps with two further years of naval and air force training at the Naval Military Academy in Marín and the General Air Academy in Murcia, respectively.

The coin is unusual as it includes a portrait of the crown princess solely without an effigy of her father, HM King Felipe VI. Above her image is the title of her father, FELIPE VI REY DE ESPANA 2023, and below the image, PRINCESA LEONOR, with the text separated by small representations of the Victory Cross. The image of the Princess shown on the obverse side of the coin is based on a recent photograph commissioned by the Fabrica Nacional de la Moneda y Timbre (FNMT) taken just before Princess Leonor joined the Military Academy. The reverse side depicts the personal coat of arms of the Princess of the Asturias, which is shown in full colour with the denomination of 40 EUROS to the right of the crest. Above the primary design is the commemorative text, which reads “18th anniversary of HRH the Princess of Asturias.” Above the crest is a security feature of a quadruple latent image, which includes the insignias of the Victory Cross, the mintmark of the Real Casa, a royal crown, and the numeral 23.

Denom.	Metal	Weight	Diameter	Quality	Mintage Limit
40 euro	.925 Silver	18 g	33 mm	Brilliant Unc.	1,000,000

Available from the 31st October, the Brilliant Uncirculated strike coins are encased in a cellophane-sealed bag and available from commercial banks, post offices and selected retail outlets for their face value. A total of 40,000 Brilliant Uncirculated coins as part of the total mintage will also be available in a blister-pak commemorative folder that includes narrative text and images. For additional information, please click here.

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