The Royal Mint Launches New Christening Coin

History is being made as Prince George of Cambridge becomes the first royal baby to be honoured with a christening coin from The Royal Mint.

Following the recent announcement of the arrangements for the christening of Prince George of Cambridge, The Royal household has agreed that The Royal Mint should create a set of coins to commemorate this historic event. This is the first time that such coins have been designed and follows the release of a silver Pistrucci St George and the dragon coin that marked his birth.

This is the first time that new United Kingdom coins have been produced to mark the christening of a member of the Royal family. The design of the coins has been approved by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Her Majesty the Queen and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and will be revealed by The Royal Mint in the next couple of weeks.

The Royal Mint is creating three new coins to mark the christening for Prince George of Cambridge. There will be a new design for the £5 coin which will be available in Silver – because the crossing of a baby’s palm with silver is a long-established tradition, conferring good health and prosperity to newborns – and Gold – to mark the Royal celebration. In addition, the £5 coin will also be made to Brilliant Uncirculated standard making it more widely affordable.

There will be a more complex design on the new 5oz and Kilo coins, to be finished in Silver Proof and Gold Proof, as these have a larger area which allow for a more intricate design.

Shane Bissett, Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint said: "The Royal Mint has celebrated moments of national significance for over 1,000 years and it was felt appropriate to produce the first-ever set of Royal christening coins to mark the christening of our future king.

"As a British institution, The Royal Mint has played a central role creating works of art as official commemorations of landmarks in the history of the Royal family for hundreds of years. These coins will be a fitting addition to that long tradition."

(CD/IT)