Canada’s King Charles III Coin Effigy Revealed!

More than a year after His Majesty King Charles III was officially proclaimed Head of State and Sovereign of Canada, The Royal Canadian Mint have announced the release of their official King Charles III coin effigy.

The official Canadian King Charles III effigy
Credit: Royal Canadian Mint

The news was shared on the 14th November – making for a wonderful birthday treat for His Majesty, who celebrated his 75th birthday that day.

SELL OUT Canada King Charles III 50 cent Coin Roll

The brand new Canadian effigy of His Majesty features on the 50 cent coin, which has been issued in a highly sought-after special collector’s edition Wrap Roll.

2023 Canada 50 cent Coin Roll
2023 Canada 50 cent Coin Roll

Each of the Wrap Rolls include 25 brand new 2023 dated Canada 50 cent coins, which feature a design of the Canadian Coat of Arms on the reverse and – for the first time in seventy years – a new monarch’s portrait on the obverse.

The first Canadian King Charles III effigy
The first Canadian King Charles III effigy

A Special Presentation

The coins are packaged in special, themed illustrated paper wrapping, featuring the official Royal Canadian Mint logo and a stylised band of Fleur-de-lis – a traditional Royal symbol of Canada.

Special edition themed wrapping
Special edition themed wrapping

You might not have heard of coin rolls before, but they’re a big deal across the pond, and a highly collectable way to own Canadian coins. Previously, Canadian coin rolls have proved incredibly popular with UK collectors, and we’ve even seen sell outs of our initial allocations of these rolls in the past.

2020 Canada Royal Arms 50p cent Roll
2020 Canada Royal Arms 50p cent Roll
2022 Queen Elizabeth II Canadian $2 Wrap Roll
2022 Queen Elizabeth II Canadian $2 Wrap Roll

A Canadian Collecting Frenzy

These Canadian 50 cent Coin Rolls are part of the first wave of Canadian coinage that features the new obverse of King Charles III, so it’s currently the only way to secure them for your collection. There were also only 25,000 rolls available worldwide – making them highly sought-after by collectors. So sought-after in fact, that they SOLD OUT at The Royal Canadian Mint within just four days!

We’ve been lucky enough to secure just 500 Canada 50 cent Wrap Rolls for UK collectors, and once they’re gone, they’re gone! So don’t miss out – add these coins to your collection now for just £29.99 (+£3.99 postage) >>


A Major Change for Canadian Coinage

During her incredible 70 year reign, there have been four different obverse portraits of Queen Elizabeth II used on Canadian coinage. The latest portrait change was in 2003 when Susanna Blunt’s effigy of Her Late Majesty made its way onto Canadian coins.

All four Canadian coin effigies for Queen Elizabeth II, from 1953 to 2023

Considering that the obverse of Canadian coinage hasn’t changed in over 20 years, and the fact that we haven’t seen a King on Canadian coins in 7 decades, the introduction of King Charles III’s effigy is sure to cause a stir in the coin collecting world.

The Process of Creating an Effigy

As you might imagine, there are a lot of steps behind the scenes that go into creating a new effigy…

Canada’s new coin effigy was created from Steven Rosati’s winning design, following an invitation to more than 350 artists and engravers.

Royal Canadian Mint President and CEO Marie Lemay and Canadian artist Steven Rosati unveiling the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III. Credit: Royal Canadian Mint Facebook

The process involved each artist/engraver submitting a portfolio of portrait work to be evaluated. These were then shortlisted before a brief outlining mandatory design requirements was given out.

An internal Mint review panel judged submissions based on aesthetics, technical requirements and mass-production suitability before the winning design was submitted for approval from the government and Buckingham Palace.

Once the design was ready, the Mint could begin the engraving and tooling process – producing dies to strike the coins.

Only 500 available for Change Checkers

Click here to secure your Canada King Charles III 50 cent Coin Roll >>

King Charles III celebrates 75th Birthday with UK £5

2023 has been quite the year for King Charles III. As well as being crowned King on 6th May, His Majesty celebrates his 75th birthday on 14th November 2023.

To celebrate his milestone birthday, The Royal Mint have issued a UK £5 coin featuring a reverse design representing The King’s love of nature.

2023 UK King Charles III 75th Birthday £5 obverse and reverse
2023 UK King Charles III 75th Birthday £5 obverse and reverse

In case you missed it…

You may recognise the King Charles III 75th Birthday £5 from earlier this year, as it was one of 5 commemorative coins issued in the 2023 Annual Coin Set. It’s actually the final coin from the set to be released individually, so now’s the time to secure it if you missed out on the 2023 Annual Set.

2023 Annual Coin Set
2023 Annual Coin Set

A passion for nature

Inspired by King Charles’ passion for nature and conservation, designer Dan Thorne has created a beautiful reverse design on this new UK £5. It includes The King’s royal cypher along with the number 75, all framed within oak leaves and delphiniums. The design was even personally approved by The King himself.

King Charles 75th Birthday £5 in Change Checker card
King Charles 75th Birthday £5 in Change Checker card

It’s not just nature that His Majesty is passionate about, he also has a keen interest in the arts, architecture and supporting disadvantaged young people. In 1976, when he was His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, The King founded The Princes Trust, an organisation committed to improving the life of young people in the UK.

He’s also been an avid campaigner for environmental issues and sustainability, living by the principle that it’s better to work with nature than against it.

A closer look

As well as the main aspects of the design such as the plants, royal cypher and the years 1948-2023, there are a few features on the coin you may not have noticed at first glance.

On closer inspection, we can see a ladybird, 4 bees and a dragonfly hidden within the design – another nod to The King’s love of nature.

Hidden features within the design
Hidden features within the design

New UK Coinage for King Charles III

The King’s love for nature and his passion for conservation is also reflected in the UK’s New Coinage. The 8 brand new coins feature designs themed around British wildlife and conservation, whilst the obverses feature King Charles III and a special privy mark.

New UK Coinage for King Charles III
New UK Coinage for King Charles III

Find out more about the UK’s New Coinage here >>

Secure your 2023 UK King Charles III 75th Birthday £5

Secure your 2023 UK King Charles III 75th Birthday £5 in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for just £13.99 (+£2.99 postage) >>

Australia’s New King Charles III Coin Effigy Revealed!

More than a year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, The Royal Australian Mint have officially announced the release of their first coins featuring King Charles III.

For the first time in 70 years, and after more than 15.5 billion coins were minted with the face of the late Queen, the Australian $1 coin will feature an effigy of the King.

Official Commonwealth effigy of King Charles III 
Credit: AAP
Official Commonwealth effigy of King Charles III
Credit: AAP

The King’s image

The King’s image that features on these brand new $1 coins will be the official Commonwealth effigy, available for use by all British Commonwealth countries. As with all official portraits of reigning monarchs, the new effigy has been personally approved by King Charles III.  

As with our UK coins, this new Australian $1 coin sees the monarch facing the opposite direction to his predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II.

Australian QEII Coin Effigies 
Credit: The Perth Mint
Australian QEII Coin Effigies
Credit: The Perth Mint

A major change for Australian Coinage

During her reign, six effigies of Queen Elizabeth II have featured on Australian coinage, however the latest change was only 5 years ago. From 1998 to 2018, with the exception of 2000, it was Ian Rank-Broadley’s effigy that featured on Australian coinage.

In 2018, a new effigy of the Queen by Jody Clark was approved and made it’s way onto Australian coins in 2019.

2019 Ian Rank-Broadley QEII Effigy on Australian £1

Considering that the Queen Elizabeth effigy only changed fairly recently, the introduction of King Charles III is sure to cause a huge shake up in Australian coinage.

How many will enter circulation?

The final mintage figure of the 2023 Australia $1 is yet to be confirmed, however, The Royal Australian Mint have announced that an estimated 10 million will be circulating by Christmas.  

Most Australians will never have held a circulating coin featuring a King on the obverse, so this new issue is guaranteed to attract the attention of not only collectors, but anyone who regularly uses coinage.

The $1 is the only denomination to feature His Majesty at the moment, however The Royal Australian Mint have said that the $2, $5, 10 cent, 20 cent and 50 cent coins will be released gradually next year.

When will we see the King on UK coinage?

Although we’ve already seen the King’s effigy on commemorative UK 50p, £2 and £5 coins since the Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam coin range last year, it’s just been announced that all UK coins are set to change. As the full range of circulating coins from the 1p to the £2 will not only feature the King, but are also set to receive brand new reverse designs.

As perhaps the biggest change we’ve seen to UK coinage in decades, we’re expecting a huge collecting rush for the New UK Coinage for King Charles III and can’t wait to see the new coins when they’re released. 

Keep an eye on our social media and website as we’ll be updating you as soon as we have more information on these exciting new coins.