1/4 oz Queen's Beasts Gold Coin

The 1/4 oz Queen's Beasts Gold Coin

The Queen's Beasts was a ten-coin series from The Royal Mint, issued between 2016 and 2021, celebrating the heraldic beasts represented as statues at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The 1/4 oz gold coin contains 7.80 grams of 999.9 fine gold, carries a face value of £25, and is UK legal tender. That legal tender status makes it exempt from both VAT on purchase and Capital Gains Tax on sale for UK residents, a combination that few gold coins outside the Royal Mint's range can match.

The series concluded with the Completer Coin in April 2021, which depicted all ten beasts on a single design. No further Queen's Beasts coins will be struck, meaning supply is now fixed to whatever was produced during the original run. Bullion versions had no mintage cap during production, so individual-year scarcity varies, but the total pool of available coins can only shrink over time as pieces enter long-term holdings.

With 40 dealers currently listing 1/4 oz Queen's Beasts gold coins, secondary market availability remains strong despite the series having ended. Premiums have been rising since 2021, particularly on early releases like the Lion of England (2016). The successor series, the 1/4 oz Tudor Beasts, carries similar specifications and tax status but uses Tudor-era heraldry rather than coronation-era beasts.

Queen's Beasts Gold Coin Denominations

The Ten Beasts

Each coin featured a different heraldic beast holding a shield bearing royal arms or a dynastic badge, tracing Queen Elizabeth II's ancestry through British heraldry. Jody Clark, the Royal Mint engraver who also designed the fifth definitive coinage portrait of the Queen, created all ten reverse designs.

1. Lion of England (2016)
2. Griffin of Edward III (2017)
3. Red Dragon of Wales (2017)
4. Black Bull of Clarence (2018)
5. Unicorn of Scotland (2018)
6. Yale of Beaufort (2019)
7. Falcon of the Plantagenets (2019)
8. White Lion of Mortimer (2020)
9. White Horse of Hanover (2020)
10. White Greyhound of Richmond (2021)

From 2018, a guilloche patterned background was added to the bullion reverse designs, introducing a braided-ribbon geometric pattern that adds visual depth and serves as a counterfeiting deterrent. The 1/4 oz gold Queen's Beasts does not carry the four-feature security suite (surface animation, latent image, tincture lines, micro-text) that is exclusive to the Gold Britannia from 2021 onward. Authentication of Queen's Beasts coins relies on weight and dimension tolerances, the guilloche pattern complexity, and the overall quality of strike from The Royal Mint.

Queen's Beasts Tax Status by Country

The Queen's Beasts is one of the most tax-efficient gold coins available in the UK. Its status as UK legal tender provides a double exemption that is not available on coins from foreign mints.

United Kingdom

Gold Queen's Beasts coins are VAT-free as investment gold and CGT-exempt as UK legal tender. This is the same dual exemption held by the 1/4 oz Britannia and is the primary reason many UK investors specifically seek out Royal Mint coins. A 1/4 oz Krugerrand or 1/4 oz Maple Leaf is VAT-free but not CGT-exempt. For UK holders selling above the £3,000 annual CGT allowance, this distinction directly affects the net return on disposal.

Other Markets

• US: Not specifically listed as IRA-eligible under IRS regulations. US investors seeking a self-directed precious metals IRA would be better served by the 1/4 oz American Eagle or 1/4 oz Maple Leaf. Capital gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• EU: Gold versions are VAT-exempt under the EU Investment Gold Directive. The 999.9 purity meets all EU requirements.
• Canada: GST/HST-exempt as investment gold meeting the 99.5% purity threshold.
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold (99.5%+ purity).
• Singapore: GST-exempt under the IPM scheme.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax or import duty on gold.

From Coronation Statues to Bullion Coins

The ten beasts depicted in this series were originally represented as six-foot plaster statues at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, placed at the entrance to Westminster Abbey. The original statues were sculpted by James Woodford RA. After the coronation, the statues were dispersed to various locations, including Kew Gardens and the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa.

The Royal Mint's coin series was announced in 2016 with the Lion of England as the first release. The Lion was exclusively distributed in North America by Wholesale Direct Metals. Subsequent releases followed at a pace of two per year, each exploring a different strand of the Queen's ancestral heraldry: the Griffin tracing to Edward III, the Red Dragon to Henry VII's Welsh origins, the Unicorn to the Scottish royal arms, and so on through to the White Greyhound of Richmond in 2021.

The series proved commercially successful enough that The Royal Mint immediately followed it with the Tudor Beasts series (2022-2026), using a similar format but drawing on the heraldic beasts of Hampton Court Palace and the Tudor dynasty. The Tudor Beasts retained the 999.9 gold purity, the guilloche background pattern, and the UK legal tender (and therefore CGT-exempt) status that made the Queen's Beasts attractive to UK investors.

The Completer Coin, released in April 2021, featured all ten beasts arranged around a central shield. A 10 kg gold proof variant of the Completer Coin carried a face value of £10,000, among the highest face values ever placed on a British coin.

Queen's Beasts vs Tudor Beasts, Britannia, and Lunar

The most direct comparison is the 1/4 oz Tudor Beasts, the successor series from the same mint. Both are 999.9 fine, UK legal tender, CGT-exempt, and feature annual heraldic beast designs with guilloche backgrounds. The key differences: the Queen's Beasts is a completed series with fixed supply, while the Tudor Beasts is ongoing (2022-2026). Tudor Beasts designs are by David Lawrence rather than Jody Clark. For UK investors, both offer the same tax treatment; the choice is aesthetic and market-driven.

Against the 1/4 oz Britannia, the Queen's Beasts shares CGT-exempt status but lacks the Britannia's four-feature security suite (surface animation, latent image, tincture lines, micro-text). The Britannia is an ongoing series with continuous supply, which generally keeps premiums lower than a completed limited series. Investors who prioritise authentication assurance and lower premiums favour the Britannia; those who value collectible design variety and potential premium appreciation favour the Queen's Beasts.

Against the 1/4 oz Perth Lunar, the Queen's Beasts offers CGT exemption in the UK (the Lunar does not, as it is not UK legal tender). Both feature annual design changes and appeal to the collector-stacker segment. The Perth Lunar has a longer pedigree (since 1996) and stronger recognition in Asian-Pacific markets, where the Chinese zodiac themes carry cultural significance.