500 Pounds - Charles III Queen's Lion; Gold Proof

The Queen's Lion is one of the ten heraldic beasts drawn from the 1911 investiture ceremony of Edward, Prince of Wales at Carnarvon Castle — a genealogical claim to the Welsh throne running through the Tudors back to Cadwaladr. The series was revived by the Royal Mint under Elizabeth II and has continued under Charles III, who holds a particular personal connection to the Welsh symbolism given his own 1969 investiture at the same castle.

At 156.3 g of .9999 fine gold, this is a five-ounce piece — the weight class the Royal Mint typically reserves for the flagship tier of its major proof series.