Britannia gold bullion coin 1987

Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain derived from Greek, and also a personification of the island and by the 1st century Britannia was known throughout the Roman world. She first appeared on coins issued under  Hadrian, where a female figure labeled BRITANNIA was depicted as a goddess. Britannia is portrayed as a beautiful young woman, wearing the helmet of a centurion, and wrapped in a white garment with her right breast exposed. She is usually shown seated on a rock, holding a spear, and with a spiked shield propped beside her. Sometimes she holds a standard and leans on the shield. On another range of coinage, she is seated on a globe above waves: Britain at the edge of the (known) world.

Britannia long survived the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century but the name fell into disuse until the 17^th Century when Britannia was used as an emblem of British imperial power and unity.

Britannia’s first appearance on British coinage was on the farthing in 1672, though earlier pattern versions had appeared in 1665, followed by the halfpenny later the same year; the model used, then and later, was Frances Teresa Stuart, the future Duchess of Richmond

Britannia £100 gold coin

In 1987, Britannia finally received the accolade of being promoted to a gold coin for the first time since Roman times and must rank amongst the worlds most beautiful bullion coins.
Britain decided to compete with the successful South African krugerrand bullion coin which had been minted by the million since introduced in 1967.
The gold Britannia was born and is produced in 22 carat gold, and is currently minted in 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz Weights. Various depictions of the goddess Britannia are on the coin, including the sitting Britannia, Britannia in helmet, Britannia with the lion, the Britannia and chariot and the standing Britannia.

The Britannia is classified as investment gold and thus free from VAT; but in addition as legal tender (like the Sovereign) is also free from Capital Gains Tax which is advantageous over other bullion coins and bullion bars as an investment instrument.

The Gold Britannia coin was originally alloyed with Copper, but from 1990 the decision was made to alloy with Silver.  This is why the earlier Gold Britannia’s have the deep Gold colour, as opposed to the lighter yellow gold colour of the Britannia since 1990.

Composition: 1987 – 1989: 22ct        (0.917 gold, alloyed with Copper)

1990 – present: 22ct    (0.917 gold, alloyed with Silver)

Designers:

Obverse – 3rd Portrait : Raphael David Maklouf, FRSA (1987 – 1997) / 4th Portrait :Ian Rank-Broadley, FRBS (1998 onwards)
Reverse -  Philip Nathan

Technical Specifications

Maurice Hall

Tags: Gold, Gold coins, Money, sovereign

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