A JAW-dropping £18.47 million coin peppered with 6,426 diamonds has been unveiled in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Called ‘The Crown – the East India Company’, the sparkling wonder is stuffed with 4kg of gold and is the size of a basketball.
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Despite the eye-popping fortune of its composition, the coin’s face value is a measly £10,000.
It features a series of portraits of Her Majesty engraved on gold coins by artists Mary Gillick, Arnold Machin, Raphael Maklouf, and Ian Rank-Broadley.
An astonishing pattern of custom cut diamonds weave around the portraits with a centre-piece marking The Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
Jody Clark’s portrait of the late Monarch – who died a year ago today aged 96 – is used on the reverse side of the monster change.
Diamonds on this face recreate a Union Jack and their setting mirror a flowing flag.
Quotes by The Queen run around both edges of the coin, one reads: “With age comes experience and that can be a virtue if properly used.
“By being willing to put past differences behind us and move forward together.”
Craftsmen from across The Commonwealth spent 16 months creating the miraculous mint by hand.
A global shortage of diamonds and the pandemic halted production of the coin – which is 29.5 inches in circumference – for some time.
The East India Company said: “The Crown was meticulously handcrafted: the diamonds were painstakingly cut and individually placed to fit seamlessly within the design, while two distinct settings were used to mirror the flowing fabric of the British Union Jack.”
The most expensive coin ever is the uber-rare “double Eagle” gold coin that went for £15.17m at auction in 2021.
The rare $20 coin was the last gold currency in the US.
Other dear dimes include the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar.
Only 1,800 were ever minted in the US and it features Lady Liberty and the American Eagle – one sold for over $10 million at auction in 2013.
But there are a number of other rare coins still in circulation, meaning you could have a pretty penny perched in your pocket.
The Kew Gardens 50p is the rarest of all the half-quid pieces, with only 210,000 in circulation.
They have been known to sell for as much as £895 on eBay – a whopping 1,800 times its face value.
Other coins worth cashing in include the Single Market 50p, worth around £45 and the Commonwealth Games Ireland £2, worth £42.
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