3x Britannia 2023 Silver 1oz – Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III Crowned, King Charles III Uncrowned – The Year of 3 Portraits

Immediately on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, her heir and successor ascended to the throne as His Majesty King Charles III. This immediate ascension is in accordance with British tradition and law.

However, the Royal Mint always prepares for an upcoming year by initiating mintage of its coinage for that year (in this case, 2023) during the second half of the previous year (2022) – meaning thousands of Britannia coins were already minted with the obverse portraying the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.

Also, in keeping with British tradition, the first two effigy portraits of the new monarch used on British coinage are: one with the monarch crowned and one bare headed – this tradition goes back to 1837 with Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne, followed by Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II and now Charles III.

This observance of tradition has led to a unique numismatic phenomenon in modern British coinage in that 3 distinct Britannia obverses of 2023, (the year of three portraits), are all legal tender sovereign coins for that year, making this 3-coin set a consequential and anticipated highly collectible series.