Prince Charles’ 60th birthday is to be commemorated with a special double-headed coin featuring images of the prince and his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
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The collectors’ coin – which has been released by Britain’s Royal Mint ahead of Charles’ birthday on November 14 – comes as a 22 carat gold crown costing £925, a sterling silver one priced at £39.95 and an uncirculated cupro-nickel one at £9.95.
There have been 1,500 of the gold crowns issued, 20,000 of the sterling silver and 500,000 of the cupro-nickel one released.
The coin features the prince on one side and the queen on the other – the seventh coin in the last 300 years to feature two living members of the British royal family – and is framed by the inscription ‘The Prince of Wales’ and ‘Ich Dien’, which translates as ‘I Serve’.
Charles posed for the coin likeness in a series of sittings at his Gloucestershire estate Highgrove, enabling artist Ian Rank-Broadley to make plaster models of his face to use on the mint.
Mr Rank-Broadley said: “The Prince of Wales £5 coin was a particularly exciting coin to work on, due in equal parts to the subject and to the format of the coin. I found it incredibly interesting that the coin should feature two portraits in profile, which is highly unusual.”
Dave Knight, Director of Marketing at the Royal Mint, added: “We are delighted to be celebrating HRH The Prince of Wales’s 60th birthday with this special gold proof coin.
“The beautifully designed coin is particularly unusual as it features two royal portraits, one on each side, which is rare in coin design.”
