Royal Mint Una and the Lion Silver

The Royal Mint's Great Engravers Bullion Bars

The Una and the Lion series brings one of the most storied designs in British coinage history into the bullion market. William Wyon created the original in 1839 to commemorate Queen Victoria's coronation, depicting the young monarch as Lady Una from Edmund Spenser's 1590 epic poem The Faerie Queene, walking alongside a lion representing England. It was the first time a British monarch appeared on a coin as a fictional character, and the design was considered radical for its era. The Royal Mint Museum now calls it "one of the most beautiful coins in the world." Original 1839 specimens are among the most valuable British coins in existence, with a specimen selling for £4.2 million at auction in 2024.

The modern bullion bar range, launched in 2021 as the inaugural release of the Great Engravers bullion bar series, makes this 187-year-old design available at bullion-grade premiums. Designer Jody Clark reinterpreted Wyon's composition for the rectangular bar format, shifting the imagery from Victoria leading the lion (the 1839 reading) to monarch and lion facing forward together. The bars are available in 1 oz, 10 oz, and 100 oz silver, plus a 1 oz gold bar. All silver bars are .9999 fine.

These are minted (struck) bars rather than cast, giving them sharper surface detail than typical bullion bars. Initial distribution was exclusive to LPM Hong Kong in February 2021 before widening to global dealers. The Great Engravers Collection later expanded to include the Three Graces bars, another Wyon design, establishing a format for translating historically significant coin designs into the bullion bar market.

Una and the Lion Bar Dimensions and Mintage

The 100 oz silver bar is notable for being a minted (struck) product at that size. Most bars above 10 oz are cast rather than struck, because the pressure required to achieve a clean strike on a 3.2-kilogram piece of silver is considerable. The Royal Mint's decision to strike rather than cast maintains the fine detail of Jody Clark's Una design across the full surface, but it also explains the limited 1,200-piece production run and the bar's positioning as a premium product.

All bars feature the Royal Mint shield logo with weight and purity markings on the reverse. The bars arrive in sealed Royal Mint packaging with tamper-evident seals. The 100 oz bar includes a presentation box. These are undenominated products with no face value. The 2019 proof coins bearing the Una and the Lion design are distinct products: they carry denominations (making them UK legal tender) and were issued in different weights and finishes.

Bar vs Coin: The Tax Distinction

The single most important thing to understand about the Una and the Lion range is the difference between the bullion bars and the proof coins. The bars have no face value and no legal tender status. The proof coins (2019 onwards) carry denominations and are UK legal tender. This distinction drives a material difference in tax treatment, particularly in the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom: Gold bars are VAT-free under the investment gold exemption. Silver bars carry the standard 20% VAT. Neither gold nor silver bars are CGT-exempt, because CGT exemption requires UK legal tender status. The Una and the Lion proof coins, with their face values, are CGT-exempt. This is a common point of confusion: being made by The Royal Mint does not confer CGT exemption. Only the denomination does. Capital gains on bars are taxed at the individual's rate (18% basic, 24% higher) after the £3,000 annual allowance.

United States: Gold and silver bars from an LBMA-accredited refiner (The Royal Mint qualifies) meeting IRS purity requirements (.9995+ for gold, .999+ for silver) are IRA-eligible. The Una and the Lion bars can be held in a self-directed precious metals IRA through an approved custodian. No federal sales tax applies. State sales tax varies, with roughly 35 states exempting precious metals.

Canada: Precious metals refined to at least 99.9% purity in bar form are exempt from GST/HST. The .9999 purity of the Una bars exceeds this threshold. RRSP and TFSA eligibility applies through approved custodians.

European Union: Gold bars are VAT-exempt as investment gold under the EU Council Directive. Silver bars are subject to the standard VAT rate in each member state, ranging from 17% (Luxembourg) to 27% (Hungary). The margin scheme may apply to pre-owned silver bars.

Australia: Gold bars are GST-free as investment-grade precious metal. Silver bars at .9999 purity exceed the 99.9% threshold for GST exemption.

Singapore and Hong Kong: Singapore exempts investment precious metals (IPM) from the 9% GST; the bars' .9999 purity qualifies. Hong Kong has no sales tax or import duty on precious metals.

From Victoria's Coronation to Modern Bullion

The story begins with Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, published in 1590. Una is the poem's heroine, representing Truth and the True Church, who travels with a lion companion symbolising England's strength. In 1839, William Wyon chose this literary reference for a five-pound pattern coin commemorating Queen Victoria's coronation two years earlier. The reverse depicted Victoria as Lady Una, walking beside the lion, with the Latin inscription DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS MEOS ("May God direct my steps"). The design was considered bold: no British monarch had previously appeared on a coin as a fictional character.

The 1839 originals were never circulating coins. Only a few hundred were struck as presentation pieces, with variations in metal, hairband style, edge type, and reverse inscription. They became among the most prized items in British numismatics. A specimen sold at auction in 2024 for £4.2 million, confirming the design's enduring cachet nearly two centuries after its creation.

The design resurfaced periodically in Royal Mint special issues. A Millennium variant in 2000 substituted the date, and the same Latin inscription appeared on a 2012 five-pound crown commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. The 2019 two-ounce gold proof coin, issued under The Royal Mint's Great Engravers Collection banner, was the first full revival of the Una and the Lion reverse as a standalone product.

The bullion bar range followed in 2021, with Jody Clark (known for creating the fifth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II used on coinage from 2015) reinterpreting the design. Clark's adaptation shifted the composition: rather than Una leading the lion as in the 1839 original, his version shows them standing side by side, both facing forward. The Royal Mint described this as a shift from "monarch leading the nation" to "monarch and nation facing the future together." Initial distribution through LPM Hong Kong reflected strong Asian collector interest before the range expanded to global dealers.

Wyon himself served as Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death in 1851. His body of work also includes the "Young Head" Victoria portrait used across British coinage and the Three Graces design from 1817, which became the second release in the Great Engravers bar series.

Una and the Lion vs Other Premium Silver Bars

The most natural comparison is with the Three Graces bars, the other half of The Royal Mint's Great Engravers Collection. Both share .9999 silver purity, nearly identical mintage numbers (35,000 vs 36,000 for 1 oz, 6,100 for 10 oz, 1,200 for 100 oz), and the same minted-bar format. The Una bars launched a year earlier (2021 vs 2022), and their design draws on a longer historical pedigree (1839 vs 1817, though the Three Graces pattern is older, the Una coin achieved greater fame). Choosing between them comes down to aesthetics: the dramatic narrative imagery of Una and her lion versus the classical composition of the Three Graces.

Against Silver Britannia coins, the Una bars lose on every structural dimension: no legal tender status, no CGT exemption in the UK, lower liquidity, and higher premiums. The Britannia is the standard recommendation for UK silver bullion accumulation. The Una bars appeal to a different buyer: someone who values design heritage and limited mintage alongside their silver content, and who is willing to pay a premium for a product that has a story attached to it.

PAMP Suisse's Fortuna bars are the closest competitor from the Swiss market. Both are premium-branded minted bars at .9999 purity. PAMP includes Veriscan authentication technology for secondary market verification. The Una bars counter with a 187-year design lineage and Royal Mint provenance. PAMP bars are more widely available globally; Una bars are limited-mintage products that may attract modest collector premiums over time.

For stacking at the lowest cost per ounce, generic bars from Valcambi, Heraeus, or Asahi will always win on premium. The Una and the Lion bars are not designed for pure cost efficiency. They occupy a space between commodity bullion and numismatic collectibles, offering genuine silver investment combined with a distinctive product that stands apart in a collection. The 100 oz struck bar, at just 1,200 pieces, is particularly unusual: few mints attempt to strike bars at that size, and the resulting product is scarcer than most limited-edition coins.