119) Prince George’s Christening Ceremony celebrated with coins issued with by the Royal Mint, U.K. in 2013:

119) Prince George’s Christening Ceremony celebrated with coins issued with by the Royal Mint, U.K. in 2013:

Celebrating the birth of Prince George of Cambridge with silver coins has been a kind of first for the Royal Mint, U.K. in celebrating the birth of a Royal in its 1000 odd-years of minting history. The birth of Prince George was celebrated with a silver penny and then a five pound silver coin which had the engraving of St. George and the Dragon on the reverse (a design hitherto seen only on Gold Sovereign) and the usual portrait of his Great grandmother Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse was minted for the first time in silver. (Please refer the following link for more details: Celebrating the birth of Prince George with commemorative coins)

As soon as the announcement of the arrangements for the christening of Prince George were made, the Royal Household agreed that the Royal Mint, U.K. should create a set of coins to commemorate this historic occasion. 

Under this arrangement, the Christening of Prince George is being celebrated with nine premium coins minted in different metals, i.e. platinum, gold, silver, base metal etc and ranging in denominational value from 5 Pounds to 1000 Pounds. 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 designs of these coins have been approved by Queen Elizabeth II, William and Kate as well as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

In keeping with the long-established tradition of crossing a baby’s palm with silver, conferring good health, happiness and prosperity to the newborn child four silver coins have been minted and four gold coins have been minted – to mark the Royal celebration. In addition, a Brilliant Uncirculated Quality coin has been included.

The coins have been designed by John Bergdahl, who is an experienced sculptor for the Royal Mint with several coins having been designed by him. The coins are decorated with traditional lilies and harp-playing cherubs flanking the inscription, heralding the christening of a new Prince, a baby who is in line to be the King one day. At the heart of the design is the lily font which is used to baptise Royal children, which is normally kept in the Tower of London.

These historic coins are as much a part of the celebration of Royal Events as the street parties and the flag-waving multitudes lining the Mall and are all-time keep-sakes.

  Keeping in mind the importance of the occasion these coins are meant to commemorate and the fact that collectors will cherish them for several decades to come, the Royal Mint is making these coins with great care, so much so, that while the Royal Mint normally produces about 3000 coins every hour, such is the intricacy of the design of the coins being minted for the Christening of Prince George that only about a 100 coins are being minted every hour.

Royal Christening 2013 –  UK 1000 Pound Gold Proof Kilo coin:

The coins include a one kilogram solid gold coin, which is the size of a saucer at more than 100 mm. in diameter and is worth 50000 pounds. 
 

Reserved for special occasions, this is only the fourth time that a kilo coin has been struck. This is one of the biggest and most expensive coins that the Royal Mint, U.K. has ever minted. These Kilo coins contain a whole kilogramme of fine gold. The coin comes in a display case, booklet comprehensive and has a Certificate of Authenticity. 

As an indication of their exclusivity only 22 of these coins would be available to be bought by Numismatists/coin enthusiasts, out of which 50% were booked within the first 3 or 4 days of the opening of Booking itself. This “kilo coin” bears a more complex design than the other issues.

Of the remaining commemorative coins, four are made of silver, one is platinum and the remaining three are 24 carat gold – all marking the Royal celebration. The coins all bear the same attractive, intricate design.

 

Royal Christening 2013 –  UK 500 Pound Silver Proof Kilo coin:

This is only the fourth time that a kilo coin has ever been minted and the largest ever silver coin minted by the Royal Mint U.K., weighing one kilogramme of fine silver and is over 100 mm in diameter. This coin also, comes with a display case, booklet comprehensive and has a Certificate of Authenticity. 

The minting of this coin is limited to 500 pieces.

Royal Christening 2013 – UK 5 Pound Gold Proof Coin:

This coin is placed in an elegant display case and there is an accompanying booklet which explores the history surrounding the christening of Prince George. 

The minting of these coins is limited to 1000 pieces.

Royal Christening 2013 – UK 5 Pound Platinum Proof Piedfort Coin:

This coin has been minted in double thickness in rare and beautiful platinum struck to Proof quality. The coin is accompanied by a booklet exploring the christening of Prince George.

 The minting of these coins is limited to 100 pieces. 

Royal Christening 2013 – UK 5 Pound Silver Proof Piedfort Coin:

This coin has been minted in double thickness in sterling silver struck to Proof quality. The coin is accompanied by a booklet exploring the christening of Prince George. These coins come in a special display case and come with a certificate of Authenticity. The coin is accompanied with a booklet exploring the christening of Prince George.

The minting of these coins is limited to 2500 pieces.

Royal Christening 2013 – UK 5 Pound Silver Proof Coin:

This coin is struck in sterling silver with a Proof finish.

Each coin comes in a case accompanied by a booklet exploring Royal christening traditions and history that goes before Prince George and a Certificate of Authenticity. 

The minting of these coins is limited to 12500 pieces.

Royal Christening 2013 – UK 5 Pounds Brilliant Uncirculated coin:

This coin comes in an illustrated display folder mentioning details about the christening Royal Christening traditions.  

Posted on 27.03.14:

I have received the undernoted Brilliant Uncirculated coin through my friend Ajit George’s efforts. The coin was delivered by the Royal Mint, UK at a London address and collected by me during my recent visit to Chennai from him. This “roundabout” procedure had to be adopted, because recent coin packet deliveries sent through Foreign Post Office, located at Mumbai, have been held up by the Mumbai Import Customs Authorities and cleared only after imposition of an “import duty” and that too after a lengthy correspondence. Strangely, if the same packet is received through courier delivery, no import duty charges are imposed. However Royal Mint always sends their consignments through Royal Mail and recent deliveries get held up the moment these packets reach Mumbai Postal customs. It seems that, the Postal Customs authorities, of late, are “taking advantage” of some obsolete/outdated/ambiguous instructions which were set at a time when courier consignments were not an alternate mode of delivery. Time for updating the Import Postal Customs rule-book??

Cover of the coin album containing the five pound Brilliant Uncirculated coin.

Obverse of the Five Pound Coin shows Queen Elizabeth facing right. Her portrait has been designed by Ian Rank-Broadley whose initials “IRB” appear below the Queen’s bust neckline. On the periphery of the coin is mentioned “ELIZABETH II D.G.REG.F.D. (meaning “Queen Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith).

Reverse of the above Five Pound Coin. The centre inscription states “To celebrate the Christening of Prince George of Cambridge -2013”. The Reverse designer is John Bergdahl.

The specifications of this coin are:

Quality: Brilliant Uncirculated

Diameter: 38.61 mm

Weight: 28.28 gms

Metal Composition: Cupro-nickel.

 Back to the old Post:

Royal Christening 2013 – UK Gold Proof Five Ounce coin:

This coin has been minted with five ounces of fine gold, struck to Proof quality. This coin comes in an elegant box and has a booklet and Certificate of Authenticity.

The minting of these coins is limited to 150 pieces.

Royal Christening 2013 – UK Silver Proof Five Ounce coin:

This coin has been minted with five ounces of fine silver, struck to Proof quality. This coin comes in an elegant display box and has booklet and a Certificate of Authenticity.

The minting of these coins is limited to 1660 pieces.

Where and when will the Christening of Prince George be held?

The Christening ceremony of Prince George will be carried out on October 23, 2013, in the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Interestingly, the selection of this venue marks a break from recent tradition in which the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge were all christened at the Buckingham Palace.

The choice of the venue has been personally decided by William, as this chapel was the place where he had paid his last respects to the body of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales over several other venues including St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. It is felt that the selection of Chapel Royal has been made by William as this was a way of including his mother in the ceremony as he was very attached to her. This is an extension of what has been witnessed throughout his marriage, as a means of his including Diana in every ceremony – he gave Kate his mother’s engagement ring, he along with Kate had visited Diana’s grave to seek her blessings, they got married in the place where Diana’s funeral was held and now the selection of the venue for the christening of his son, George.  

The Chapel Royal was built by Henry VIII in 1540 has a slice of history behind it. It was decorated by Hans Holbein in honour of Henry’s short marriage to Anne of Cleves. It was also here that Elizabeth I had prayed for victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1649, Charles I had received Holy Communion in this Chapel before being taken for his execution at Whitehall signifying the cessation of the monarchy and the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Still later, Queen Victoria was married to Albert in the nineteenth century.

The Christening ceremony will be the first occasion when a ruling monarch will be photographed with three direct successors , the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George.

The names of the godparents for George will be released shortly before the date of ceremony itself.

Posted on 24.10.2013:

How did the Christening of Prince George go? 

On 23rd October 2013, the christening service was conducted in a small and private affair at Chapel Royal in St. James's palace attended by 21 guests only. Six friends of William and his cousin Zara Tindall were named as godparents. Naming of the godparents again breaks with the tradition of naming Royal dignitaries as godparents.





Links:

British Crown Dependencies:

1) Specimen Banknotes from the States of Jersey

2) Coinage and Currency from the States of Jersey

3) Currency & Coinage of the Bailiwick of Guernsey

4) Currency & Coinage of Gibraltar : An Overseas Territory of Great Britain

5) Coinage of Gibraltar: (A British Overseas Territory): An Uncirculated Decimal Coin Collection Set minted by the Tower Mint, UK in 2010
  
6) The Isle of Man: An Uncirculated Decimal Coin Collection Set minted by Pobjoy Mint, UK in 2015

7) The Centenary of the ill-fated Titanic (15.04.1912 - 15.04.2012): An Alderney Five Pound Coin Commemorating the Maritime Legend

8) "Man of Steel": A Superman Movie: A set of stamps brought out in 2013 by Jersey post, the States of Jersey, commemorating Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill who played Superman in the Movie

9) Coins & Currency of Bermuda

10) The Bailiwick of Jersey - Presently circulating coinage - Pounds and Pence 

11) St. Helena & Ascension Islands: An Uncirculated Coin Set from 2003 

12) The Legend of the "HMAV Bounty" is interwoven with the heritage of the Pitcairn Islands: An uncirculated coin set from Pitcairn Islands in 2009 depicting the icons/relics of the Bounty minted by the New Zealand Mint 

Famous Battles: 

1) Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's Exile to St. Helena: (Part I): A One Crown Commemorative coin issued by the Ascension Island (minted by Pobjoy Mint UK) 

2) Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon's Exile to st. Helena: (Part II) 1) A 5 GBP Coin issued by the Royal Mint UK. 2) A"Drie Landen Zilverset" ( ot the "Three Lands Silver set") containing coins issued by the Royal Dutch Mint including coins of Netherlands, Belgium and UK

3) Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain by issuing a 50 Pence coin by the Royal Mint UK

Gold Coins:
  
1) Gold Sovereigns issued in 2013 & 2014 by MMTC-PAMP in India under licence from the Royal Mint, UK, carrying the "I" Mint Mark

2) Gold Half-Sovereigns minted by MMTC-PAMP in India in 2014 under licence from the Royal Mint UK bearing the "I" Mint Mark 

Silver Coins:

1) A 20 Pound Silver coin minted for the first timr by the royal Mint UK: reverse design carries the famous St. George slaying the dragon design found on Gold Sovereigns 

British India Coinage:

 1) East India Company Quarter Anna Copper Coin which is one of the first issues under the Coinage Act 1835

2) Victoria Coinage: When she was Queen and afterwards Empress

3) Edward VII: King & Emperor  Coinage

4) George V King Emperor Coinage

5) George VI: The last of the British India Emperors Coinage 

Other British Royalty: 

1) Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations (1952-2012): A Five Pound Commemorative coin issued by the Royal Mint, UK

2) Commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953: A Five Pound Coin minted by the Royal Mint UK in 2013, depicting the Imperial State Crown

3) The Royal Coat of Arms of the UK: Great British 2012 Coin Set (Uncirculated) issued by the Royal Mint UK

4) Prince George's Christening Ceremony celebrated with coins issued by the Royal Mint UK in 2013

5) The British Empire:  A Case of Numismatic "segregation": (Guest Post by Rahul Kumar)

6) 1) The Portrait Collection: Various Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II on Coinage 2) The Fourth & Final Circulating coinage of the Portrait designed by Ian Rank-Broadley and the First Edition of the portrait of the Queen made by Jody Clark

 British Coinage:

1) The contribution of the Great British One-Pound coins in keeping alive the historical legends/emblems/heritage of the UK (1983 onwards)

2) Transformation of a Five shilling Coin (Crown) into the UK Twenty-five Pence & then the Five Pound Coin

3) Transformation of the Two Shilling Coin (Florin) Coin into the UK Ten Pence

4) The 350th Anniversary of the Guinea: A Two Pound Coin issued by the Royal Mint UK celebrating the milestone

 Commemorative British Coinage:

 1) Commemorating the Bicentenary of Charles Dickens: A Two pound coin celebrating his literary contributions during the Victorian Era

 2) Commemorating 50 Years of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - presently called the World Wide Fund for Nature by issue of a Fifty Pence coin by the Royal Mint, UK

3) Coins commemorating London Olympics & Paralympics (2012)

4) Commemorating 150 Years of the London Underground : Two pound Coins minted by the Royal Mint UK, showing the "Roundel" logo and a train emerging from a tunnel 

5) Commemorating the 100th Birth anniversary of Christopher Ironside with his" Royal Arms" design on a 50 Pence coin issued by the Royal Mint, UK 

6) 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta - the Universal Guidepost to Liberty and Freedom

Inspirations from Scottish History: 

1) The Legend of King Bruce & the Spider on Banknotes

Banknotes from Scotland:
  
1) Commemorating Sir William Arrol and his creation the Forth Rail Bridge by issues of Britain's first ever 5 Pound Polymer Banknote