Silver Queens Beast Unicorn
The Queen’s Beasts Unicorn marks the 4th in the series of delightful Royal Mint coins. Struck in fine silver, the Silver Unicorn is a large 2oz bullion coin issued as part of a series of ten Queen’s Beasts coins.
This is a brand-new bullion finish coin, issued by the Royal Mint. The coins are issued without expensive presentation boxes to maximize the amount of silver for your money. Coins will be packaged loose for small quantities and orders of 10 or more may come in Royal Mint tubes, and monster boxes contain quantities of 200 coins.
The design of both sides of the coin are by Jody Clark, the creator of the latest Queen Elizabeth portrait featured on the obverse of the other prominent UK bullion coins such as the Sovereign, Britannia and Lunar series. Conceiving both the obverse and reverse of the coin offers a notable consistency in design afforded only to this series of coins. This is relatively unusual to have a designer take charge of both sides of the coin. In fact, different designers are used for each side of the Lunar series of coins, Sovereign and Britannia. The fact that the coin is ‘double-sized’ as weighing 2oz, means there’s more space to provide fine detail in the motifs.
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The Unicorn Queen’s Beast coin is also produced in gold, both as a 1oz coin and quarter ounce version. The 2oz silver coin has a face value of £5, granting the coin legal tender status, and therefore making it free from Capital Gains Tax.
The unicorn
The Unicorn of Scotland is the fourth coin in the Queen’s Beasts series. These were ten various beasts depicted as imposing statues to protect Queen Elizabeth at her coronation in 1953 at Westminster Abbey. They are meant to reflect the power, strength and courage of the queen’s family tree. Each statue bears an impressive shield featuring various family coats of arms associated with Queen Elizabeth.
History of the unicorn
The unicorn is a mythical creature which has been depicted and celebrated in many cultures around the world from the ancient Greeks to the Indus Valley. Most commonly, the unicorn is portrayed as a white horse-like creature with a single imposing horn protruding from the centre of the forehead. It has come to be associated as a symbol of elegance and purity since the Middle Ages, with rumours the horn has magical powers to purify tarnished water and heal illness.
This particular beast is the celebrated Unicorn of Scotland, representing the two unicorns which were used to hold up the Scottish Royal Arms from the 1500s onwards. When James VI of Scotland took the throne of England (as James I of England) in 1603, he updated the animals holding up the Royal Arms to one Crowned Lion and one Scottish Unicorn
Our Expert Opinion
We’ve experienced fantastic demand for the previous coins in the Queen’s Beasts series and expect it to continue with this coin. The fact that it weighs 2oz provides satisfaction in its tangible weight, allows space for detailed design, and provides a nice balanced portfolio when combined with 1oz coins. The fact that the Unicorns are both tax efficient (as British legal tender) and part of a collectable series, means demand will always be high. Pure gold and silver hold particular desire in the lucrative Asian precious metal market, where demand for the Unicorn will be strong. That market also loves anything British and collectable in nature, which should push premiums up in the future, especially as the issuance of the current beast withdraws.
Low premium investment coin
If you’re seeking as much tax free silver for your money as possible, lower prices can be achieved through buying Silver Britannia coins. However, the Britannias are produced every year in higher numbers and may not achieve the same collectable silver coin demand as the Queens’s Beasts coins.
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