2017 Queens Beasts English Lion Gold Proof Quarter Ounce

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning British Monarch ever, reigning for over 70 years. Born on 21 April 1926 to King George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she became Queen in 1952 and her Coronation was on 2 June 1953. She died on 8 September 2022. Some coins were released dated 2023.

Queen Elizabeth II issued many coins and was monarch during decimalisation. She married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 and had four children. Her eldest son succeeded the throne as King Charles III. House of Windsor.
The Queens Beasts is a series of 10 designs issued by the Royal Mint to represent the ten heraldic statues that were present at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The coins are issued in Proof/Bullion as silver, gold and platinum and in a wide range of weights and denominations. The release is planned from 2016 through 2021.

Gold is issued as 5oz, 1oz, ¼oz (denominated £500, £100, £25).
Silver is issued as 1kg, 10oz, 5oz, 2oz, 1oz (denominated £500, £20, £10, £5, £2).

(The year is that of the first or proposed release date of that design)

Year	Beast	Description
2016	Lion of England	The crowned golden lion of England. It has been on the Royal Arms sine Edward IV (1461-1483).
2016	Griffin of Edward III	The Griffin is an ancient mythical beast. It signifies courage and strength combined.
2017	Red Dragon of Wales	The Red dragon was the badge of Owen Tudor. The story derives from the dragon on LLewelyn the Last's castle grounds.
2017	Unicorn of Scotland	Two unicorns were adopted by the Scottish Royal Arms back i the 16th century, eventually passing to England via James VI of Scotland who became James I of England.
2018	Black Bull of Clarence	The Black Bull derives from Edward IV.
2019	Yale of Beaufort	The Yale was a mythical beast, supposedly white and covered with gold spots and able to swivel each of its horns independently. It descends to the Queen through Henry VII. The portcullis is also a Beaufort badge.
2019	White Lion of Mortimer	The White Lion of Mortimer derives from Edward IV. The shield shows a white rose encircled by a golden sun, known heraldically as a 'white rose en soleil'.
2020	White Greyhound of Richmond	The White Greyhound of Richmond was a badge of John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, son of Edward III. Also used by Henry IV and Henry VII. The Tudor double rose is on the shield, one rose within another surmounted by a crown.
2020	Falcon of the Plantagenets	The falcon was first used by Edward III of the House of Plantagenet as his badge and descended to Edward IV.
2021	White Horse of Hanover	The White Horse of Hanover was introduced into the Royal Arms in 1714 when the crown of Great Britain passed to George I.

The Royal Mint is the designated place for the UK to mint coins. It dates back well over 1000 years and is a Government-owned company. 

Formed in the reign of Alfred the Great about the year 886, during the period 1279-1812 it was generally referred to as The Tower Mint as it was housed at the Tower of London. The Master of The Royal Mint has included famous figures such as Sir Isaac Newton.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK although it also produces medals and coins for other countries. It is currently located at Llantrisant, Wales.
The United Kingdom (UK) is the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is often refered to as Great Britain (GBR). It has a long, rich history.

The orignal coinage was Pounds, Shillings and Pence but since decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it is £1 = 100p, that is One Pound = 100 pence. The coinage of the UK is also a long history, the Royal Mint being established as long ago as 886AD when coins were hammered. Today there is perhaps 30 billion coins in circulation, and many (numismatic) collectors coins and sets are issued frequently in gold, silver and other metals.