Legendary Creatures Silver

The Royal Mint's Newest Bullion Series

Legendary Creatures is a gold and silver bullion series from The Royal Mint, launched in 2026 with the Loch Ness Monster as its inaugural design. The series will feature mythical creatures associated with the British Isles, and as UK legal tender, both the gold and silver coins carry CGT exemption in the United Kingdom.

The 1 oz silver coin is struck to .999 fineness with a face value of 2 Pounds, a mintage limited to 50,000, and a design by Dan Thorne depicting Nessie emerging from a Scottish loch against a Highland landscape. The 1 oz gold coin is .9999 fine with a 100 Pound face value and a tighter mintage of 5,000. Both feature the King Charles III portrait by Martin Jennings on the obverse.

The Legendary Creatures series joins the Royal Mint's expanding stable of thematic bullion ranges alongside the Britannia, Tudor Beasts, and Myths and Legends. The Britannia remains the core bullion product with unlimited mintage and the tightest premiums. Legendary Creatures is positioned as a limited-mintage alternative with higher premiums and collector appeal, similar in concept to the Tudor Beasts programme.

Legendary Creatures Silver Coin Specifications

The reverse design depicts the Loch Ness Monster emerging from a Scottish loch with a dramatic, dynamic expression. Behind the creature, a mountainous Highland landscape and a castle silhouette set the scene. The tone is more aggressive and kinetic than the serene imagery typical of bullion coins.

Individual coins are supplied in protective capsules, with silver available in mint-sealed tubes of 25 and gold in tubes of 10. The Royal Mint's standard precision weight and purity guarantees apply. No advanced anti-counterfeiting features (such as the Britannia's latent image or surface animation) have been documented for this first release.

Gold Companion

Only 1 oz sizes in gold and silver have been announced for the first release. Future releases and any fractional denominations have not been confirmed.

Legendary Creatures Tax and Legal Tender Status

Both the gold and silver Legendary Creatures coins are UK legal tender, struck by The Royal Mint. This status has significant tax implications, particularly for UK buyers.

• UK Capital Gains Tax: Both denominations are CGT-exempt. As UK legal tender coins issued by The Royal Mint, any profit on disposal is not subject to Capital Gains Tax. This is the same exemption that applies to Britannias and Sovereigns, and is the primary tax advantage of Royal Mint bullion coins over bars and non-UK coins.
• UK VAT: The gold coin is VAT-free as investment gold (999.9 purity exceeds the 995 threshold). The silver coin is subject to 20% VAT on purchase. Pre-owned silver may become available under the margin scheme from participating dealers over time.
• UK SIPP: The gold coin qualifies for inclusion in a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), providing tax relief at the buyer's marginal rate (up to 45%).
• EU: The gold coin qualifies as investment gold under EU Directive 98/80/EC and is VAT-exempt. The silver coin is subject to each country's standard VAT rate (17-27%).
• US: No federal sales tax. State exemptions vary. The CGT-free status is UK-specific and does not apply in the US. Capital gains on silver are taxed at the 28% collectibles rate federally.
• Canada: Silver at .999 purity meets the 99.9% threshold for GST/HST exemption.
• Australia: Silver at .999 purity meets the 99.9% threshold for GST exemption on investment-grade precious metals.

Physical bullion investments are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

From Loch Ness Legend to Royal Mint Bullion

The Loch Ness Monster legend has roots stretching back to 565 CE, when Saint Columba reportedly encountered a beast in the River Ness. The modern "Nessie" phenomenon began in 1933 when a couple reported seeing a large creature crossing the road near the loch. Since then, the legend has generated countless alleged sightings, multiple organised searches, and a tourism industry estimated to bring 50 million pounds annually to Scotland.

Loch Ness itself is a formidable body of water. It contains more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined (7.4 cubic kilometres), with a maximum depth of 230 metres and extremely low visibility due to peat content. The loch's opacity has sustained speculation about what might lurk unseen below the surface.

The Royal Mint's decision to lead the series with a cryptid rather than a creature from ancient literary mythology is a deliberate marketing choice. It aligns with popular culture interest and positions the coin as approachable and recognisable to buyers who might not connect with more obscure mythological figures. The British Isles offer rich source material for future releases: Welsh dragons, Scottish kelpies, the Lambton Worm, Black Shuck, selkies, and the Kraken are all candidates, though the Royal Mint has not announced which creatures will follow.

The series continues the Royal Mint's strategy of supplementing the Britannia with thematic limited-mintage series. The Queen's Beasts ran from 2017 to 2021, the Tudor Beasts launched in 2023, and the Myths and Legends series (featuring human characters like Robin Hood and Merlin) has run alongside them. Legendary Creatures focuses specifically on mythical beasts, distinguishing it from the human-centred Myths and Legends programme.

Legendary Creatures vs Britannia, Tudor Beasts, and Other Royal Mint Series

The Silver Britannia is the benchmark. With unlimited mintage, the tightest premiums, advanced anti-counterfeiting features (latent image, surface animation), and decades of brand recognition, the Britannia is the default choice for UK silver buyers prioritising cost efficiency and liquidity. Both coins share CGT exemption and UK legal tender status, so the tax treatment is identical.

The Tudor Beasts offers the closest comparison within the Royal Mint's own catalogue. Both are limited-mintage thematic series with higher premiums than the Britannia. Tudor Beasts features heraldic creatures from English royal history; Legendary Creatures draws from folklore and mythology. The Tudor Beasts gold coins have typical mintages of 5,000 to 10,000, so the 5,000 gold Legendary Creatures mintage sits at the tighter end of that range.

Against non-Royal Mint competitors, the Legendary Creatures silver at 50,000 mintage is more limited than the Canadian Maple Leaf or American Silver Eagle (both in the millions), but less scarce than private-mint limited editions. The combination of sovereign backing, UK CGT exemption, and a 50,000 ceiling gives it a competitive position for UK buyers who want more exclusivity than the Britannia without paying the extreme premiums of true numismatic coins.

The silver at .999 purity is standard for bullion. The gold at .9999 matches the Maple Leaf and exceeds the .9167 of the Gold Sovereign. The silver mintage of 50,000 suggests the Royal Mint is targeting both individual collectors and volume buyers through the 25-coin tube format.