St George and the Dragon Silver

Modern Reinterpretations of Britain's Most Famous Coin Motif

The St George and the Dragon bullion series launched in 2024 from The Royal Mint, exploring the legend through annual artistic reinterpretations. St George first appeared on English coinage in 1526 on the George Noble under Henry VIII, and Benedetto Pistrucci created the definitive version for the gold Sovereign in 1817. This modern series takes a different approach: rather than reproducing Pistrucci's original, each year a different designer creates a new contemporary depiction of the saint and dragon.

The silver editions are struck in .999 fine silver as UK legal tender, available as a 1 oz silver coin and a 1 kilo silver coin. As Royal Mint UK legal tender, these coins carry CGT exemption for UK residents, matching the tax status of the Silver Britannia and the Silver Sovereign.

The 2026 issue coincides with the 500th anniversary of the George Noble (1526), when St George first appeared on English coinage. The third-year design by Sandra Deiana features an inscription drawn from that original coin, reinforcing the half-millennium of continuity between the historic motif and its modern bullion incarnation.

St George and the Dragon Silver Specifications

Gold editions are available in 1 oz (.9999 fine, £100 face value) and 1/4 oz (.9999 fine, £25 face value). The .999 silver purity on the coin editions meets all standard investment-grade thresholds. The 38.61 mm diameter of the 1 oz coin matches the Silver Britannia, fitting standard capsules and storage tubes.

Security features include micro-text borders incorporated into the design, micro-detail background waves visible under magnification, and the inscription from the 1526 George Noble on the 2026 edition. The advanced minting technology provides enhanced depth and clarity in the strike, though the series does not carry the named security features (like the Britannia's visual surface authentication) that distinguish some Royal Mint ranges.

St George and the Dragon Tax Treatment by Country

As UK legal tender from The Royal Mint, the St George and the Dragon series carries the same favourable tax status as other Royal Mint bullion coins.

• United Kingdom: Gold editions are VAT-exempt as investment gold. Silver editions carry 20% VAT at point of sale. All editions are CGT-exempt for UK residents, as UK legal tender under TCGA 1992. This puts the silver St George on equal footing with the Silver Britannia and Silver Sovereign for UK tax purposes.
• European Union: Gold editions are VAT-exempt under the EU Investment Gold Directive (legal tender, .999+ purity, post-1800). Silver editions are subject to local VAT rates (17% to 27% depending on the country). The German margin scheme applies to imported pre-owned silver coins.
• United States: No special federal tax status. State sales tax varies. The .999 silver and .9999 gold purities meet IRA thresholds under Section 408(m).
• Canada: GST/HST exempt on both gold and silver editions (99.5%+ purity in coin form).
• Australia: Gold GST-exempt (99.5%+ purity). Silver GST-exempt as investment-grade bullion (99.9%+ purity threshold met by .999 fine silver).
• Singapore: Qualifies for IPM GST exemption in both metals.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax or import duty applies.

From the George Noble to Modern Bullion

The connection between St George and English coinage stretches back to 1526, when Henry VIII authorised the George Noble featuring the saint on horseback battling the dragon. The motif appeared intermittently on English and later British coinage over the following three centuries before Benedetto Pistrucci created his definitive version for the gold Sovereign in 1817.

Pistrucci's original was remarkable for its time. The Italian gem engraver insisted on depicting St George as a near-nude classical figure rather than in medieval armour, causing controversy but creating what many numismatists regard as the finest coin design ever produced. The anatomical precision of the horse, the dynamic movement of the billowing cape, and the intricate dragon scales have made the design resistant to counterfeiting through sheer complexity of detail. His design has been in near-continuous use on the Sovereign for over 200 years.

The modern bullion series launched in 2024 with a reverse by Jody Clark, who also designed the fifth and final portrait of Queen Elizabeth II used on UK coinage from 2015 to 2022. The 2024 design was titled simply "George and the Dragon." The 2026 edition, designed by Sandra Deiana, was retitled "St George and the Dragon" and described as capturing the saint "in the heat of battle" with "striking intensity." The series sits alongside the Sovereign, which retains Pistrucci's 1817 original, offering two distinct takes on the same legend from the same mint.

St George vs Britannia, Sovereign, and Other Royal Mint Silver

The Royal Mint now offers three UK legal tender silver bullion coin series, each with CGT exemption for UK residents: the Silver Britannia, the Silver Sovereign, and the St George and the Dragon. All three are .999 fine silver in 1 oz format, and all three carry the same fundamental tax advantages. The choice between them is primarily one of design preference and market liquidity.

The Britannia has the deepest secondary market of the three, with decades of production history since 1997 and global dealer recognition. It also carries four named security features (including visual surface authentication) that the St George lacks. For pure investment purposes with an eye to resale liquidity, the Britannia remains the default Royal Mint silver choice.

The St George's unique offering is its annually changing design, which gives each year's issue a distinctive character. Collectors who value design variety will find more to engage with than the Britannia's more consistent format. The 1 kilo silver version at 100 mm diameter is also a standout, offering a substantial display piece for high-value silver purchases.

Against non-Royal Mint silver, the .999 purity matches the American Silver Eagle and is slightly below the Silver Maple Leaf at .9999. The gold editions at .9999 purity match the Britannia and put the St George on par with the Maple Leaf and Austrian Philharmonic, while exceeding the 22-carat Sovereign and Krugerrand. For UK buyers, the CGT exemption on silver is the decisive factor that no foreign coin can match.