The official coin for the King of England, King Charles III has been debuted. This took place on Thursday, September 29, 2022 when the Royal Mint unveiled Charles’ coin collection, which also salutes late Queen Elizabeth II.
The Royal Mint announced on its website, “Today we are honored to reveal the first official effigy of His Majesty King Charles III appearing for the first time on a memorial coin collection honoring the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II.” For over 1,100 years, the Royal Mint has created coins for the United Kingdom, including the coins during Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign.
Royal Mint Debuts New Coins Featuring A Portrait of King Charles III
The designer of the new coins is British sculptor, Martin Jennings. King Charles also “personally approved” of them, according to The Royal Mint said. Designer, Jennings said, “It is the smallest work I have created, but it is humbling to know it will be seen and held by people around the world for centuries to come,” as he added that the sculpture was created after a photo of the King of England, according to the Associated Press.
The coinage also follows tradition as the King’s portrait turns to the left, while that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, faces the right. According to the Associated Press, Chris Barker of the Royal Mint Museum said, “Charles has followed that general tradition that we have in British coinage, going all the way back to Charles II actually, that the monarch faces in the opposite direction to their predecessor.”
The AP reports that the portrait shows King Charles without a crown and “King Charles III, by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith,” which is written in Latin, encompass the portrait. The Royal Mint said, “Coins bearing portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III will both circulate in change for years to come.”
On October 3, 2022, a set of memorial coins will also be released “to mark this poignant moment in British history.” Chief executive of the Royal Mint, “When first we used to make coins, that was the only way that people could know what the monarch actually looked like, not in the days of social media like now.
So the portrait of King Charles will be on each and every coin as we move forward.” When his mother passed away on September 8, 2022, Charles became the King.
