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The official coin for King Charles III has made its debut.
On Thursday, The Royal Mint unveiled Charles’ coin collection, which also salutes the late Queen Elizabeth II.
“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,” The Royal Mint said on its website.
The Royal Mint has created coins for the United Kingdom for more than 1,100 years, including the coins during Her Majesty’s 70-year reign.
British sculptor Martin Jennings served as the designer of the new coins, and Charles also “personally approved” of them, The Royal Mint 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,” Jennings said, adding that the sculpture was created after a photo of Charles, according to the Associated Press.
The coinage also follows tradition as Charles’ portrait turns to the left, while his mother’s faces the right.
“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,” Chris Barker of the Royal Mint Museum said, per the AP.
In the portrait, Charles is not wearing a crown; the words “King Charles III, by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith,” written in Latin, encompass the portrait, AP reports.
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“Coins bearing portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III will both circulate in change for years to come,” Royal Mint said.
A set of memorial coins will also be released on Oct. 3 “to mark this poignant moment in British history.”
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“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,” said Anne Jessopp, chief executive of the Royal Mint, according to the AP. “So the portrait of King Charles will be on each and every coin as we move forward.”
Charles inherited the throne after the Queen’s death on Sept. 8. Charles’ firstborn son, Prince William, 40, is now next in line to the world’s most famous throne, followed by his firstborn son, Prince George, 9. Her death follows her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who died at age 99 in April 2021.
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