King Henry VIII’s heraldic beasts have inspired a new range of coins from the Royal Mint, with the first unveiled at the monarch’s former palace.
Hampton Court Palace – where carvings of the beasts still welcome visitors – was the setting for the launch of the £5 Seymour Panther coin, which features an image of the Queen on one side and the animal on the reverse.
He added: “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 Royal Tudor Beasts collection will be released over five years, with the public able to buy the 10 coins celebrating the beasts – from lions and panthers to a bull, greyhound and a unicorn – chosen by Henry VIII to line the moat bridge of Hampton Court Palace in south-west London.
The Seymour Panther was the heraldic symbol of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife, given to her by the king from the treasury of royal beasts.
Henry’s grandmother Margaret was a Beaufort and the animal features in the Duke of Beaufort’s arms.
“This exciting new range has been developed with Historic Royal Palaces and follows on from our popular Queen’s Beasts range.”
Emma Saunders, senior licensing manager at Historic Royal Palaces, said: “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.”
