Queen’s Beasts White Greyhound 2oz Silver Bullion Coin | Royal Mint

The Queen’s Beasts Collection brings ancient symbols of ancestry, power and heraldry to life on a series of prestigious coins. Acclaimed designer Jody Clark has reimagined the ten beasts that stood guard at the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen in 1953; each one representing a strand of ancestry brought together in a young woman about to be crowned before the nation.

Combining investment with exceptional design, this popular series concludes with a design showcasing the majestic White Greyhound of Richmond. In 1449, Henry VI granted the earldom of Richmond to his half-brother Edmund Tudor. With this grant, Edmund received Henry’s permission to use a particular version of the Royal Arms featuring a white greyhound as a heraldic supporter. Edmund’s only son would become Henry VII when he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The greyhound expressed both his Tudor and Lancastrian ancestry, through which he claimed the throne.

The shield the white greyhound is clutching shows the Tudor rose. Combining the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York, it symbolises how Henry VII united these warring houses, ending the Wars of the Roses. Artist Jody Clark captures the greyhound’s nobility, as well as its power and elegance. Featuring a secure chainmail background, the realism of the White Greyhound of Richmond is displayed to its fullest.

This bullion coin from The Queen’s Beasts is also available in a one ounce and a quarter-ounce gold edition.