Description
The Gold Britannia Coin has undergone some significant changes during its 30 year history. The coins were originally available in 22-karat gold, or .917 gold content. Starting in 2013, the Royal Mint increased the gold content to 24-karat, .9999 pure gold. Additionally, the obverse design field has changed over time to reflect changes to Queen Elizabeth IIs portrait.
Coins issued from 1998 until 2015 feature the right-profile portrait created by Ian Rank-Broadley. This fourth-generation image was more recently replaced in 2016 by the fifth-generation image of the Queen at age 89. Created by Jody Clark, this latest image makes Clark the youngest Royal Mint engraver ever to design the Queens effigy.