1 oz East India Company Una and the Lion Silver Coin

The 1 oz Una and the Lion Silver Coin

This is an annual bullion coin issued by the Government of Saint Helena and produced by East India Company Bullion, first released in 2020. The design reinterprets William Wyon's 1839 "Una and the Lion" five-pound gold coin, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful coins ever produced; surviving originals have sold for over £500,000 at auction. Where the Royal Mint's 2019 Great Engravers issue reproduced Wyon's reverse faithfully, the St Helena series commissions a fresh pose of Una and her lion each year, designed by Glyn Davies, keeping the classical spirit while giving collectors a new image annually.

The series sits in the collector-bullion crossover space, and mintage is the reason. The 1 oz silver BU ran to just 5,000 coins in 2020, 10,000 in 2023, and 5,000 in 2024 (4,000 standard plus 1,000 first strike). Mainstream bullion coins like the 1 oz silver Britannia are struck in the millions, so the Una and the Lion behaves more like a limited edition than a commodity, and secondary market premiums can be substantial, especially for early years.

The coin is .999 fine silver, legal tender in Saint Helena at a 1 pound face value, and carries the British monarch's effigy, Queen Elizabeth II through 2022 and King Charles III from 2023, since the island is a British Overseas Territory. The buyer profile is specific: someone who wants a troy ounce of investment-grade silver wearing one of the most storied designs in British numismatics, and who accepts thinner liquidity than mass-market silver coins in exchange.

Una and the Lion Silver Specifications

The standard 1 oz silver brilliant uncirculated coin follows mainstream bullion sizing, so it fits standard 39 mm-class capsules and storage.

The wider programme spans several formats beyond the 1 oz BU: 2 oz silver BU, 5 oz silver proof, and 1 kg silver proof, plus gold in 1/4 oz, 1 oz, and 0.5 g proof versions. The gold proofs are extremely limited; the 2020 1 oz gold proof ran to just 200 pieces and has appreciated significantly on the secondary market.

Mintages for the 1 oz silver vary by year and finish: 5,000 BU in 2020, 1,500 proof in 2022, 10,000 BU plus 1,500 proof in 2023, and 5,000 BU in 2024 split between 4,000 standard and 1,000 first strike coins. BU coins come capsulated, with multiples in sealed rolls; proofs come encapsulated in presentation cases with certificates of authenticity. The bullion editions carry no micro-engraving or holographic security features, so authentication rests on weight, dimensions, and buying from reputable dealers.

Una and the Lion Tax Treatment

Saint Helena is a British Overseas Territory, but its coins are not UK legal tender, and that distinction drives the tax picture for British buyers.

• UK: 20% VAT applies on new silver coins, and there is no CGT exemption because the coin is St Helena legal tender, not UK legal tender. Pre-owned examples sold under a dealer's margin scheme carry VAT only on the dealer's margin, which softens the entry cost. Buyers who want the full UK double exemption need UK coins such as the silver Britannia instead.
• US: treated as bullion for tax purposes. No federal sales tax; state rules vary, with around 35 states exempting bullion and a handful applying thresholds or full tax. Long-term capital gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%. The coin is stocked by major US dealers.
• Canada: 0% GST/HST, as the .999 fineness clears the federal 99.9% purity threshold for silver coins.
• Australia and New Zealand: GST-free, since .999 silver meets the 99.9% investment-grade threshold both countries apply; New Zealand has no formal capital gains tax.
• EU: full local VAT on new silver coins, between 17% and 27% by member state, with margin scheme relief available on second-hand pieces in countries like Germany and the Netherlands.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: Hong Kong applies no sales tax or CGT at all; Singapore exempts qualifying 99.9% silver legal tender coins from GST and levies no capital gains tax.

One quirk worth knowing: the gold proof versions of this series are VAT-exempt in the UK and EU as investment gold, so the tax gap between the silver and gold formats is wider than the metal prices alone suggest.

From Wyon's 1839 Masterpiece to St Helena

The original Una and the Lion was struck in 1839 by William Wyon, Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint, as a five-pound gold coin for collector sets. Wyon depicted the young Queen Victoria as Lady Una guiding the British Lion, circled by the inscription "DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS MEOS", "May God direct my steps". Portraying a reigning monarch as a fictional character was unprecedented in British coinage. Only a few hundred were struck, and surviving originals are worth six figures or more, with a proof example selling for over £500,000.

Una herself comes from Book I of Edmund Spenser's 1590 epic The Faerie Queene, where she represents truth and the Church of England, travelling under the protection of a lion. The 2024 St Helena release is subtitled "Faerie Queene", acknowledging that literary origin directly.

The modern series began in 2020, with the Government of Saint Helena issuing and East India Company Bullion producing and distributing. The East India Company brand is itself a licensed revival: the historic company was dissolved in 1874, and the modern entity, established in 2010, operates under licence from the UK government. Saint Helena, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world and best known as the place of Napoleon's exile, has issued collector coins through partnerships for decades. Glyn Davies designs each annual reinterpretation, posing Una and her lion afresh while keeping Wyon's classical spirit. Together with the Royal Mint's faithful 2019 remaster, collectors now have two distinct modern approaches to the same iconic design: reproduction or reinvention.

St Helena Una vs Royal Mint Una and Other Series

The unavoidable comparison is with the Royal Mint's own Una and the Lion, issued in 2019 under the Great Engravers series. That coin is a faithful reproduction of Wyon's original reverse; the St Helena programme instead commissions a new artistic interpretation each year. They are separate products with different philosophies: the Royal Mint version is a one-off remaster aimed squarely at collectors of the original design, while the St Helena series is an ongoing annual programme a stacker can follow year over year. For UK buyers there is also a tax wrinkle in the Royal Mint's favour on other products: UK legal tender coins are CGT-exempt, St Helena coins are not.

Among other classical-design bullion, the Royal Mint's Queen's Beasts and Tudor Beasts series occupy similar territory, though they draw on heraldic rather than literary tradition. All three run limited annual designs that attract collector premiums above generic bullion.

Against mainstream 1 oz silver the contrast is structural. A 1 oz silver Britannia offers the same troy ounce of .999-class silver with mintages in the millions, instant dealer recognition, and (for UK sellers) CGT exemption. The Una and the Lion's 5,000 to 10,000-coin mintages cut the other way: harder to source, thinner resale market, but genuine scarcity that has produced substantial secondary premiums for early years. Buy the Britannia to stack ounces; buy the Una for the design and the mintage, and treat any appreciation as a bonus rather than a plan.