Silver British Britannias

Silver British Britannias at BGASC

The Royal Mint has a history spanning at least 1,100 years. The Royal Mint is currently headquartered in Llantrisant, South Wales, but over the years has had several branches of the Royal Mint, one of which is the Perth Mint in 1899. Nowadays, the Royal Mint is among the most recognizable mints in the world as they create top-of-the-line British Silver Coins. Their most popular silver coin? The Silver British Britannia. Learn more about this well-known coin program, right here at BGASC.

Background on the Coin Program

Silver British Britannias have been issued annually since 1997. The overall series debuted a decade earlier, but just in gold. Notably, from 1997 to 2012, these coins contained a purity known as Britannia Silver which equated to .958 pure silver.

In 2013, the purity was upgraded to .999 pure silver, and it has remained so ever since. Parlayed with this, Silver British Britannias decreased in size from 32.45 Grams to 31.21 Grams, along with the diameter decreasing from 40 mm to 38.61 mm.

Design of the Silver British Britannia

The reverse of these coins displays Britannia, the female personification of Great Britain. Britannia was first seen on coinage during the reign of Emperor Hadrian around 119 AD. Britannia has appeared on British coins since the late 1600s.

The reverse for this series has changed sporadically over the years. However, the Phillip Nathan design, showing Britannia holding a trident in her right hand and a Union Jack shield in her left is the most well-known. This design has been seen on every release since 2012.

The obverse of these coins features the reigning British monarch. This has included several unique designs over the years, including the following:

• Third-generation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Raphael Maklouf (1997).
• Fourth-generation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Ian Rank-Broadley (1998-2015).
• Fifth-generation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Jody Clark (2016-2023).
• First portrait of King Charles III, designed by Martin Jennings (2023-present).

Packaging

Silver British Britannias are available in several packaging options, similar to American Silver Eagles and Canadian Silver Maple Leafs. Individual coins are placed inside protective plastic flips. For larger orders, sealed tubes and even Monster Boxes are available. Sealed tubes contain 25 Silver British Britannia’s, while Monster Boxes contain 20 tubes, equaling 500 silver coins.

New Security Features for the Silver British Britannia

Both the Silver and Gold British Britannias received new security features with the 2021 release. These four unique features include the following:

• Alternating images: latent security feature that shows alternating images to the lower left of Britannia.
• Micro-text inscription: “Decus Et Tutamen“ displayed on the rim between Britannia and the outer field.
• Surface animation: The background of the reverse changes depending on the angle you view it.
• Tincture lines: Displayed on the Union Jack shield.

Buying Silver British Britannias at BGASC

For any questions regarding Silver British Britannias, contact the BGASC customer service team today. We can be reached via email, through our online chat feature, or by giving us a call at 888-992-4272.