Great Britain Silver Queen’s Beasts

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Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts coins are a special ten year series of one unique royal symbol beast per year struck in two full ounces of silver. With a five British pounds sterling face value, these interesting and novel gems from Her Majesty's Royal Mint are quite valuable and highly desirable to retirement investors and coin collectors alike. The 2017 edition of the coin, featuring a Griffin, represents the second of ten in the series.

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts History and Background

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts are a product of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's coronation. When she was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953, ten heraldic beast symbols of the British monarch watched over the ceremony and young princess turning queen. These Queen's Beasts were sculpted originally by James Woodford RA and stood six feet tall. They symbolized the varying parts of Elizabeth's ancestry. All of the beasts utilized were originally inspired by the King's Beasts made famous by Henry VIII which still stand guard over the bridge across the moat to his beloved Hampton Court Palace outside of London. Among these legendary, ancient world animals are the lion, griffin, bull, falcon, yale, dragon, greyhound, horse, and unicorn. They have received a new lease on life in the designs of highly regarded Royal Mint Coin Designer Jody Clark.

For 2017, the beast featured is the Griffin of King Edward III. This mythical yet ancient beast has long been regarded as a benevolent animal that embodies strength, courage, vigilance, swiftness, guardianship, and acute vision. King Edward III loved this animal and so engraved it on his own seal. In the shield of the coin is the Round Tower from Windsor Castle where Edward III himself was born. The Royal Standard flies gracefully atop the turret and is surrounded by two oak branches which are topped by the royal British crown. The griffin itself proves to be a mythical creature of legends. It is comprised of a tail, body, and rear legs of the lion; coupled with the wings, head, and front feet as talons of an eagle. As the lion embodies the king of all beasts while the eagle represented the king of all birds, this made the griffin extremely potent and majestic as a heraldic combination of the two mighty animals. The griffin earned the reputation as king of all animals either real or imagined. Because they were renowned for guarding treasures, these creatures were regarded as priceless.

The Royal Mint is among the very oldest of all institutions on the planet. It produced coins exclusively for England and finally Great Britain beginning over 1,100 years ago. Nowadays, the Royal Mint similarly produces and strikes coins as exports for other countries along with military medals and other requirements of the British government. The Royal Mint has counted such legends as Sir Isaac Newton as among its chiefs and has witnessed some of the most famous and beloved kings and queens of history along with technological, medical, and scientific advances and breakthroughs that still impact the world today, and it has participated in the rise and fall of the greatest empire the world has ever known which spanned a quarter of the world's territories and a fifth of the world's total population and ruled 90 percent of all the world's islands.

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts Physical Characteristics

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts are larger two ounce silver coins only offered in this single size and five British pounds denomination.

Coin Design

The obverse is always the designation for the front side of the coin. Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts have an obverse which year in and out displays the same design. This is of course the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Besides her effigy and name, the obverse denotes its face value of five pounds.

The reverse back side of the coin features a different heraldic beast theme in every year of the 10 year series. For 2017, this was the majestic griffin that clutches a shield in its claws all the while it is spreading its mighty wings skyward. The rim contains such important information as the metal purity, weight, and year. The 2016 first year of the series featured the royal Lion of the British crown and monarchy.

Coin Specifications

Specifications for the Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts two ounce coins are as follows:

• Mass: 2 troy oz
• Diameter: 38.61 mm
• Thickness:  6 mm
• Content: 99.99% fine silver

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts Pricing

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts are legal tender face valued at an impressive five British pounds sterling. You could spend these coins for a decent amount of goods and services anywhere within the confines of the United Kingdom in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland. No one would really do this since the silver value is substantially greater than even this high face value.

Face value is not all that makes the market value of these coins. The lion's share of the true market value is based upon the daily spot price of silver, plus some collector influenced premium over spot. Silver prices do go up and down six days per week. You are able to find out the current live price of silver every day by clicking on our home page.

Can IRA Accounts Contain Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts?

Great Britain Silver Queen's Beasts must pass muster with the American Internal Revenue Service in order to be a potential part of a precious metals IRA. If you want to open up such an account for retirement, you must begin with an upfront purchase of at least $5,000 in precious metals that the IRS sanctions. Later purchases can be added for as little as another $1,000 in silver and other precious metals. Adding physical silver like the Queen's Beasts provides your investments with a true investment diversification not offered by mere stocks and bonds. Because silver prices are always so much lower than their counterparts in the world of gold, platinum, and palladium, the metal is always a popular way to insure your various portfolio investments. This helps to account for the continuous popularity of silver in precious metals IRA vehicles.

For any silver coin to be allowed in an IRA, the IRS insists that they fulfill several exacting standards. They must have a minimum silver purity of 99.9% fineness in order to be a serious contender. The Queen's Beasts Silver coins do exceed this minimum with their impressive 99.99% fineness and purity. They do not pass muster with the IRS on the collectibility factor however. The IRS deems Her Majesty's beasts to be rather collectible instead of purely bullion coins. This is why they may not ever be a part of an IRA account. This does not mean that they are not excellent investments and collectible issues with their novel and attractive changing yearly designs. You can purchase them in either brilliant uncirculated or proof condition directly from the Royal Mint or off of a number of reputable coin dealers throughout the world.

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