1 oz East India Company Three Graces Silver Bar

The 1 oz Three Graces Silver Bar from The East India Company

The Three Graces was the first release in The East India Company's Masterpiece Collection, a programme recreating historically significant coin designs, launched in 2021 in cooperation with the Government of Saint Helena as issuing authority. The collection recreates William Wyon's celebrated 1817 Three Graces pattern coin, of which only around 50 originals were struck; surviving specimens sell for six-figure sums at auction, so the modern series is the only accessible way to own the design. The range spans silver and gold proof coins in multiple sizes plus rectangular bar formats, of which this 1 oz .999 silver bar is the smallest-ticket entry point.

The East India Company branding deserves a moment of context. The modern EIC is a London-based luxury and bullion brand, but the name's connection to Saint Helena is genuinely historical: the original company received a charter to occupy the island in 1657 and used it as a resupply point on voyages to India and China, with Saint Helena becoming a Crown Colony in 1833. Napoleon's 1815 exile there happened under EIC supervision.

Buyers should be clear about what kind of product this is. The Three Graces range is collector-positioned with limited mintages and premiums well above spot, not a stacking vehicle. Anyone whose goal is maximum silver per pound spent will do better with ordinary silver bars; this product is for buyers who want Wyon's design and the EIC provenance in an affordable one-ounce format.

Three Graces 1 oz Silver Bar Specifications

The wider 2021 Three Graces release included a 1 oz silver proof coin (38.61 mm, 3,000 mintage), a 2 oz silver proof (45.00 mm, 2,500 mintage), a 5 oz silver proof (300 mintage), gold proofs at 1 oz (400) and 2 oz (250), and rectangular bars in 10 oz and 250g formats carrying the East India Company ship design. Coins in the collection carry the EIC mint mark, a distinctive three-armed crosslet with the letters EIC, alongside Jody Clark's Commonwealth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.

Proof items ship in protective capsules and presentation boxes with certificates of authenticity, and early releases have been graded PF69 and PF70 by NGC and PCGS. As a bar rather than a coin, this format carries no face value; the legal tender status in Saint Helena pounds applies to the coin versions of the collection.

Tax Treatment of the Three Graces Silver Bar

Silver gets none of the investment-gold exemptions, and a bar gets none of the coin-specific concessions, so this product sits in the least favourable tax category in several markets.

• United Kingdom: 20% VAT applies on purchase, and the bar is CGT-liable on sale. The UK's CGT exemption covers UK legal tender coins only; even the coin versions of this Saint Helena collection fail that test, since Saint Helena pounds are a separate currency from sterling. UK buyers pay tax at both ends.
• EU: Full standard VAT on silver (17-27% depending on country). The investment gold exemption covers only the gold versions of the collection.
• United States: Most states exempt bullion from sales tax, though around ten tax it and several apply minimum purchase thresholds a single 1 oz silver item will not meet. Capital gains run at the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• Canada: GST/HST exempt; silver of at least 99.9% purity in bar form qualifies.
• Australia and New Zealand: GST-free, as .999 fine meets the 99.9% silver purity floor both countries apply.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: Singapore's IPM exemption requires 99.9% purity silver; Hong Kong levies no sales tax or capital gains tax at all.

For collector-premium items like this, remember that VAT applies to the full purchase price including the collectible premium, not just the metal value, which amplifies the tax cost in VAT jurisdictions.

William Wyon's 1817 Masterpiece

The Three Graces pattern coin is one of the most celebrated designs in British numismatic history. William Wyon (1795-1851) created it in 1817 at just 22 years old, early in his Royal Mint career, and the design established his reputation; he went on to become Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint in 1828 and later designed the Young Head portrait of Victoria used on sovereigns. The design shows three classically robed women representing the Three Graces of Greek mythology, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, embodying beauty, joy, and festivity, while simultaneously personifying England, Scotland, and Ireland. That dual symbolism captures the early 19th-century fashion for neoclassical imagery in British coinage.

Only about 50 original pattern pieces were ever struck, which is why originals rank among the most prized British numismatic items and why the design waited two centuries for a faithful, accessible revival. The East India Company's 2021 reissue recreates Wyon's reverse with the addition of the EIC mint mark, paired with Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

The same Wyon original has inspired a parallel modern issue: the Royal Mint's own Three Graces, released in 2020 as part of its Great Engravers series alongside other Wyon revivals such as Una and the Lion and the Gothic Crown. Two competing modern recreations of the same 1817 design, one UK legal tender and one Saint Helena legal tender, is an unusual situation, and the tax and market consequences are covered in the comparison tab.

Saint Helena vs Royal Mint Three Graces, and Bar vs Coin

The defining comparison is with the Royal Mint Three Graces (2020) from the Great Engravers series. Both recreate the same Wyon design. The Royal Mint version is UK legal tender, which makes its gold versions CGT-exempt for UK holders, and it enjoys a more established secondary market, at the cost of higher issue prices. The Saint Helena version offers lower mintages and the EIC provenance but no UK CGT benefit. For UK collectors expecting meaningful appreciation, that CGT difference compounds over time; for collectors elsewhere, it is largely irrelevant and the choice comes down to price and scarcity.

Within the Saint Helena collection, the 1 oz silver bar versus the 1 oz silver proof coin is a budget question. The proof coin (3,000 mintage, capsuled and boxed with certificate) is the flagship collector format; the bar is the more affordable route into the collection's branding. Neither escapes UK VAT or CGT, so the tax treatment does not separate them.

Against standard 1 oz silver bullion, this product makes no pretence of competing. Generic 1 oz bars and rounds price within a few percent of spot, while Masterpiece Collection items carry significant collector premiums. The relevant question for a buyer is whether the design and provenance justify the premium, not which delivers cheaper silver; on the latter measure, ordinary bullion wins every time. Collectors drawn to the EIC and Saint Helena lineage can also look at the brand's Queen's Virtues series, which shares the issuer and the collectible positioning.