• The Royal Mint’s coins have been submitted for quality testing in the annual Trial of the Pyx at Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London – the UK’s oldest judicial process.
• As the responsibility of the Goldsmiths’ Company, whose members make up the jury, the 700-year-old Trial ensures every coin produced by The Royal Mint meets a strict set of standards aimed at protecting consumers.
• The first official UK coins bearing His Majesty King Charles III’s official effigy, along with the 15kg gold coin produced to celebrate Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee are among the nearly 10,000 coins submitted for testing.
• This is the first time that coins bearing the effigies of two monarchs has been submitted to the Trial for several decades.

The Royal Mint has today submitted nearly 10,000 coins for testing at the UK’s oldest judicial ceremony, the Trial of the Pyx, held at Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London.

The 700-year-old ceremony aims to protects consumers by upholding the quality of the nation’s coinage through rigorous testing – as important today as it was at the first recorded public trial in 1248. The process ensures that the coins produced by The Royal Mint meet the standards of precision, accuracy and exceptional craftsmanship for which it is internationally renowned. 

This year’s Trial of the Pyx marks a significant moment in history, with the submission of the largest coin ever created by The Royal Mint (a 15kg masterpiece created in celebration of Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee) as well as the first official UK coins bearing His Majesty King Charles III’s official portrait (a special £5 Crown and 50 pence commemorating the life and legacy of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). This is the first time in several decades that coinage bearing the effigies of two monarchs will be tried at the same time. 

While the primary responsibility of The Royal Mint is to strike the United Kingdom’s coins, the 1,100-year-old organisation also draws on its unrivalled knowledge of precious metals and spectacular pool of British craftsmanship to create bespoke masterpieces, like the 15-kilo gold coin. A sample of all new coins struck by The Royal Mint - both currency and commemorative - are submitted to the Trial of the Pyx each year. They are rigorously checked for fineness and quality by an independent jury of Goldsmiths’ Company members, before further scientific analysis by our team in the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office. 

The Trial is opened by the King’s Remembrancer, Senior Master (Barbara) Fontaine of the Kings’ Bench Division of the High Court, who will also deliver the verdict once testing and analysis have been completed later in the year.

Pictured above is The Goldsmiths' Company Prime Warden, the Lord Bridges, holding the largest coin ever made by The Royal Mint. This 15kg masterpiece was created in celebration of Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Read more on the Goldsmiths' Company website

500 Pound Coin, The Royal Mint. Photographer: Karen Hatch

500 pound coin, The Royal Mint. Photographer: Karen Hatch