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The first coin in the collection is the Seymour Panther, which was unveiled at Hampton Court Palace, where the original Royal Beasts still welcome visitors today.
The Royal Tudor Beasts collection will be released over five years and customers will be able to build their own collection celebrating the ten beasts chosen by King Henry VIII to line the Moat Bridge of Hampton Court Palace.
This collection follows on from The Royal Mint’s Queen’s Beasts Collection that celebrated the ten ancestral beasts that lined the entrance to Westminster Abbey at Her Majesty The Queen’s coronation.
Seymour Panther is the first coin in the collection (The Royal Mint)
Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint said: “We are delighted to be introducing a new range of collectable and bullion coins celebrating The Royal Tudor Beasts – the ten beasts chosen by Henry VIII. This exciting new range has been developed with Historic Royal Palaces and follows on from our popular Queen’s Beasts range.
“To celebrate the launch, we felt it was only right to unleash the first beast, the Seymour Panther, at the original home of the Royal Tudor Beasts – Hampton Court Palace. We hope collectors across the globe are equally as excited as we are for the launch of our latest range of collectable and bullion coins.”
Emma Saunders, Senior Licensing Manager at Historic Royal Palaces commented: “We are very proud to be launching another new collection of coins in partnership with The Royal Mint. The Seymour Panther is inspired by one of the majestic Royal Beasts on the Moat Bridge at the entrance to Hampton Court Palace and symbolises the union of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour.
“As an independent charity, each sale of Historic Royal Palaces’ collectible coins helps support our cause and contributes to the future of the incredible buildings and collections in our care, which is more important now than ever before.”
The whole collection has been designed by artist David Lawrence.
He said: “It was an honour to be chosen to depict the heraldic beasts on a coin and bullion collection as well as a huge challenge. Each royal beast comes down to us with centuries of heritage and meaning attached to them, so my task was to find a new vision that is still true to the past.”
The Seymour Panther was a heraldic symbol belonging to Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife. Given to her by the king from the treasury of royal beasts, it is thought that a panther had been part of the collection since the reign of Henry IV. As Henry VII’s mother, Margaret, was a Beaufort and a panther also appeared on the Duke of Beaufort’s arms, both Henry VII and Henry VIII used the beast as a symbol of their lineage.
The coin is available in a range of precious metal Proof editions, as well as a Brilliant Uncirculated edition.
Visit the website to view the full collection. The Royal Tudor Beasts will also be available as bullion coins in the coming months.
