Details
The seventh release of the popular Queen's Beast series, this beautiful two ounce .999 pure silver coin features the Yale of Beaufort. The yale is a mythical beast, described in ancient times as being the size of a hippopotamus with the tail of an elephant, the jaws of a boar and of a black or tawny color.
The reverse of the new coin features the Yale of Beaufort designed as a goat-like four-legged beast with the tusks of a boar and large horns that it can swivel in any direction. The Yale is designed against a beautiful guilloché background. The reverse also displays the year of issue, the fineness and weight of the coin.
The obverse features an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It also shows the monetary denomination of the coin.
Queen's Beast series features the heraldic beasts that stood guard at the Queen's coronation: lion, Griffin, falcon, bull, yale, greyhound, dragon, unicorn and horse.
The Yale is a mythical beast with characteristics of an antelope or goat, depending on the imagination of the artist and their desire to portray grace and elegance, or strength and determination. Strangely, it is said to have horns that can turn independently so in medieval illustrations it is often shown with horns pointing in different directions. The white and gold-spotted Yale of Beaufort has such horns along with the whiskers or ‘tushes’ of a boar.
The Yale of Beaufort was a symbol of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. The Yale of The Queen’s Beasts holds a shield with the blue and white quarters of Margaret’s arms but with a golden portcullis at the center, a badge used by Henry VII. The portcullis is also part of the arms of Westminster City Council, which is home to Westminster Abbey where the coronation took place in 1953.
Note: The colorization/plating on this piece was performed by an experienced third party company not by the mint of origin.