10 oz Queen's Beasts White Lion Silver Coin (2021)
The 2021 Queen's Beasts Silver White Lion of Mortimer coin is the eighth 10 oz Silver Queen's Beasts coin from the Royal Mint.
At the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen, 10 heraldic statues of beasts stood guard. The heraldic creatures symbolized the various strands of royal ancestry brought together in a young woman about to be crowned queen. Each proud beast was inspired by the King’s Beasts of Henry VIII that still line the bridge over the moat at his Hampton Court Palace.
Today, The Queen’s Beasts can be found at the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec, while Portland stone replicas, also carved by James Woodford, watch over Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. But these mythical, ancient creatures such as the lion, griffin, falcon, bull, yale, greyhound, dragon, unicorn and horse have gone on to inspire the highly-praised new talent, Royal Mint Coin Designer Jody Clark.
The White Lion of Mortimer descended to the Queen through Edward IV. The shield shows a white rose encircled by a sun, known as "white rose en soleil". Both of these appear on the Great Seal of Edward IV and Richard III, and were used by George VI while Duke of York. The while lion is uncrowned, unlike the Lion of England.
Coin Highlights:
- Contains 10 oz of .9999 fine Silver.
- Obverse: Displays the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, along with the face value of 10 pounds.
- Reverse: Designed by Jody Clark, the design features a fierce White Lion, clutching its shield.
- Sovereign coin backed by the British government.