10 oz Queen's Beasts Silver Bar

The Royal Mint Queen's Beasts 10 oz Silver Bar

The 10 oz Queen's Beasts silver bar is part of The Royal Mint's celebrated heraldic series, struck in .9999 fine silver with a face value of £10. The series ran from 2016 to 2021, celebrating the ten heraldic beasts represented as six-foot plaster statues at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Each beast traces a line of royal ancestry through centuries of British heraldry.

The 10 oz format was introduced alongside the 2 oz coin as a larger-format silver option. At 89mm diameter, the bar provides a substantial canvas for Jody Clark's detailed heraldic designs, which depict each beast holding a shield bearing the royal arms or dynastic badge it represents. Clark, who also designed the fifth definitive coinage portrait of the Queen, created all ten beast reverses.

For UK buyers, the Queen's Beasts series offers a combination that few other silver products can match: UK legal tender status providing CGT exemption, .9999 purity (higher than the .999 standard used by most silver bullion), and annually changing heraldic designs. The CGT exemption is particularly significant for silver investors, since silver bars from private refiners carry both 20% VAT on purchase and CGT liability on sale.

The series concluded with the Completer Coin in April 2021, which featured all ten beasts arranged around a central shield. No further Queen's Beasts products are being minted, meaning supply is now fixed to existing dealer and secondary market inventory. This has pushed premiums upward since completion, particularly for earlier-year releases where original unlimited mintage stock has thinned. The 10 oz bars are less widely available than the 2 oz coins, which were the primary format throughout the series.

Queen's Beasts 10 oz Silver Bar Specifications

The Ten Beasts

The series drew on ten heraldic creatures that flanked Elizabeth II during her 1953 coronation, originally sculpted by James Woodford RA in Portland and Clipsham stone. The beasts appeared on coins in this order: Lion of England (2016), Griffin of Edward III (2017), Red Dragon of Wales (2017), Black Bull of Clarence (2018), Unicorn of Scotland (2018), Yale of Beaufort (2019), Falcon of the Plantagenets (2019), White Lion of Mortimer (2020), White Horse of Hanover (2020), and White Greyhound of Richmond (2021). The Completer Coin followed in April 2021.

The Queen's Beasts silver was also produced in a 2 oz coin format (the first two-ounce UK silver bullion coin) at £5 face value. Gold bullion versions were issued in 1 oz and 1/4 oz, and a 1 oz platinum version was available for some releases. A guilloche patterned background was added from 2018 onward as an anti-counterfeiting measure.

Queen's Beasts Silver Tax Treatment

The Queen's Beasts silver bars carry UK legal tender status, which significantly affects their tax position compared to private-mint silver bars.

United Kingdom

Silver Queen's Beasts are subject to 20% VAT on purchase, the same as all silver bullion in the UK. The critical advantage is CGT exemption. As UK legal tender, profits on disposal are not subject to Capital Gains Tax. This is the same exemption that applies to the Silver Britannia and Sovereigns. For silver investors expecting price appreciation, the CGT exemption can offset a significant portion of the initial VAT cost over time. A private-refiner silver bar carries both 20% VAT on entry and CGT on exit, making the Queen's Beasts materially more tax-efficient for UK holders despite the identical VAT treatment at purchase.

United States

Queen's Beasts are not IRA-eligible, as IRA qualification requires US Mint products or specifically approved foreign coins. They are treated as collectibles for capital gains purposes, taxed at the 28% federal rate for long-term holdings. State sales tax treatment varies.

Canada

Silver meeting the .999 purity threshold is GST/HST exempt. The .9999 fine Queen's Beasts bars qualify. No CGT exemption applies; standard Canadian capital gains inclusion rates apply.

Australia

Investment-grade silver at 99.9% purity is GST-free. Subject to CGT with a 50% discount for holdings over 12 months. The UK legal tender status confers no Australian tax benefit.

Singapore and Hong Kong

Singapore exempts qualifying silver from GST under the IPM scheme. Hong Kong has no sales tax, import duty, or capital gains tax. No special treatment for UK legal tender coins in either jurisdiction.

South Africa

Subject to 15% VAT. No exemption for foreign legal tender silver products.

From Coronation Statues to Bullion

The ten heraldic beasts at Elizabeth II's coronation in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953 were not decorative afterthoughts. Each traced a specific line of the Queen's royal ancestry through centuries of heraldic tradition. The Lion of England represented the royal arms inherited from Richard I. The Red Dragon of Wales marked Henry VII's Welsh ancestry. The Unicorn of Scotland arrived with James VI of Scotland becoming James I of England. The White Horse of Hanover came with George I's accession in 1714.

James Woodford RA carved the original statues from Portland stone and Clipsham stone, standing six feet tall and painted in heraldic colours. After the coronation, the statues were dispersed: some went to Kew Gardens, others to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, reflecting the Commonwealth connection to the Crown. The original statues still exist at these locations.

The Royal Mint's decision to create a bullion coin series from the coronation beasts came in 2016, 63 years after the coronation. Jody Clark, who had already proven himself as a coin designer with the fifth definitive portrait of the Queen, designed all ten reverse compositions. Each depicts the heraldic beast in a stylised form holding a shield bearing the dynastic badge or royal arms that the beast represents. The designs balance historical heraldic accuracy with the bold graphic style needed for bullion coins that must read clearly at small scale.

The series concluded in 2021 with the Completer Coin featuring all ten beasts around a central shield. A 10 kg gold proof version of the Completer carried a face value of £10,000. The completion of the series has shifted Queen's Beasts from a currently-produced bullion range to a fixed-supply collectible, with prices for earlier years rising as dealer stock diminishes.

Queen's Beasts vs Other 10 oz Silver Products

The 10 oz Queen's Beasts silver bar competes in a narrow field: large-format silver products with government backing and collectible designs. For UK buyers specifically, the CGT exemption makes it almost uniquely advantaged among silver products at this weight.

The 10 oz Una and the Lion silver bar, also from The Royal Mint, is a close alternative in provenance and quality. Both are .9999 silver from the same mint. The critical difference is that the Una and the Lion bars are not legal tender and therefore lack CGT exemption in the UK. The Una bar has a limited mintage of 6,100 pieces compared to the Queen's Beasts bullion versions which had no mintage cap during their production run. For UK buyers, the CGT exemption tips the balance toward Queen's Beasts; for international buyers, the Una bar's William Wyon heritage and lower mintage may hold more appeal.

The 10 oz Perth Mint silver bar provides a government-mint alternative without the UK tax advantages. Perth Mint bars are .999 fine (three nines versus Queen's Beasts' four), lack legal tender status, and do not carry CGT exemption in any jurisdiction. Their advantage is continuous production and wider availability at lower premiums.

Generic 10 oz silver bars from LBMA-accredited refiners such as PAMP Suisse or Valcambi offer significantly lower premiums. The premium gap between a Queen's Beasts 10 oz and a generic 10 oz bar reflects the Royal Mint provenance, .9999 purity, collectible design, CGT exemption (for UK buyers), and the fixed supply since the series ended. For international buyers without CGT concerns, the premium difference is harder to justify on pure investment grounds.