Gold Coin Memorial Half Sovereign Charles III 2022

The 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Gold Half Sovereign Bullion Coins feature a new Royal Coat of Arms reverse design, honouring the life of the late Queen. It is a special edition of The Sovereign struck to honour the remarkable reign of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which also features the first official coinage portrait of His Majesty The King. Sovereigns have often been issued to mark royal milestones, included in proof sets to celebrate the coronation of new monarchs.

This poignant Memorial range is characterised by two remarkable new designs:

The new Coat of Arms on the reverse

The reverse of the 2022 Charles III Sovereigns shows the royal coat of arms: a potent heraldic symbol, used both by the royal family and the British government. The arms are displayed on everything from UK government buildings to products manufactured by companies that hold a royal warrant. They've also been a constant presence on British coinage down the centuries with the royal arms currently seen on seven of the UK's circulating coins.

The interpretation of the royal arms seen on Memorial Sovereigns is the work of Jody Clark. Clark is a renowned international artist who uses a mixture of digital and traditional drawing skills. His lion and unicorn are rendered with the realism that characterised the designs of his Queen's Beasts series. The date - 2022 - features on a scroll, below the words 'DIEU ET MON DROIT': Latin for 'God and my right' - the monarch's motto.

Did you know? King Charles' coat of arms are identical to his mother's. While his cypher included the 'Tudor' or 'King's Crown', rather than St Edward's Crown, the latter is retained on the royal coat of arms.

The new portrait of King Charles III

His Majesty's first definitive coin portrait is the work of British sculptor Martin Jennings. He's known for his bronze statues of famous literary figures like Charles Dickens, George Orwell and John Betjeman.It's been reported that Jennings' portrait was in the works for about a year. The design was chosen via a private competition held by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee and personally approved by King Charles.

Jennings' royal portrait shows Charles facing left, the opposite direction to his mother who looks right on her coins. The tradition for British monarchs to face a different direction to their predecessor dates back to the seventeenth century.Coins in the Elizabeth II Memorial range show the English form of the King's name, rather than the Latin 'Carolus'. The rest of the legend remains in Latin with a slight change to the phrasing, swapping out 'D G REG' ('Dei Gratia Regina') for 'D G REX' ('Dei Gratia Rex' - 'By the Grace of God, King')

These 2022 gold Half sovereigns are exempt from capital gains tax because they are legal tender pound sterling coins. Weighing 3.99 grams and struck from 22ct gold, each coin contains 0.1177 troy ounces of the precious metal. As one of the most iconic coins in the world, they are also popular with collectors.As investment gold, these coins can be offered without VAT in the UK and the EU.These benefits, combined with the buoyant market for commemorative coinage can make these 2022 coins a smart investment.