Gold Britannia

Gold Britannia Coins

The gold Britannia was introduced by The Royal Mint in 1987, giving Britain its own official gold bullion coin at a time when the success of the South African Krugerrand had shown how much investor appetite there was for one. It takes its name from the figure of Britannia, the female personification of Britain that has appeared on British coinage since Roman times, and it was the first of the British gold coins to be struck purely for investment rather than for circulation.

It has since become one of the most widely traded one ounce gold coins in the world. A guaranteed weight, a design that dealers recognise everywhere and the backing of a national mint mean a Britannia can be bought and sold quickly in almost any market. Current year coins come to us directly from The Royal Mint, while our Best Value and older coins are tested by our team to confirm authenticity.

Like all investment grade gold, the Britannia is exempt from VAT, so the price you pay reflects the gold content and a small premium rather than being inflated by sales tax.

Gold Britannia coins are British legal tender, which makes them exempt from Capital Gains Tax for UK residents no matter how many you buy or sell. For larger investors this is often the deciding factor, because a holding built up over several years can be sold without any CGT liability on the profit. The exemption applies to the fractional coins in exactly the same way as it does to the full ounce.

Gold Britannia Coin Specification

The gold Britannia is a British gold coin manufactured by The Royal Mint, and its specification changed part way through the life of the series. Coins struck between 1987 and 2012 are 22 carat at 916.7 fineness, alloyed with copper in the earliest years and with silver thereafter to harden the coin, following the same tradition as the Sovereign. From 2013 onwards the Britannia has been struck in 24 carat gold at 999.9 fineness.

Both versions hold a full troy ounce of gold, so the older coins are simply heavier overall because of the alloy added to them, and the two are worth exactly the same for their metal content. The 1oz coin has a diameter of 32.6mm (2014 onwards).

Denominations & Sizes

The gold Britannia is produced in four bullion sizes, and unusually the whole range was available from the outset, with the half, quarter and tenth ounce coins all launched alongside the full ounce in 1987. The 1oz coin carries a face value of £100, one of the highest denominations of any British coin, though the gold it contains is worth a great deal more than that, and the fractional coins carry proportionate denominations of £50, £25 and £10. Every size is struck to the same purity, so the only real difference between them is how much gold you are buying at a time and the premium you pay for the smaller pieces.

Britannia Coins in Other Metals

The Britannia design is not restricted to gold. The Royal Mint added a silver Britannia in 1997, ten years after the gold coin, and a platinum Britannia followed in 2018, so the same figure now appears across all three precious metals. The silver coin is much the cheapest way into the series, while the platinum version suits investors looking to diversify beyond gold and silver. Proof Britannias are also struck each year to a higher standard of finish for collectors.

Britannia Bars

The Britannia design appears on bars as well as coins. Minted bars carrying the Britannia figure are produced in sizes from 1 gram up to 100 grams, including a one ounce bar, and sit alongside the rest of the Royal Mint gold bars range. The same design is used on Royal Mint silver bars in 100g, 10oz and 100oz formats. Bars carry no face value and are not legal tender, but they generally come at a lower premium over the metal price than the equivalent weight in coins, which makes them worth comparing if you are buying purely for weight.

Gold Britannia Price

Gold Britannia prices are derived from the value of the gold each coin contains. Each gold Britannia coin weighs 31.1 or 34.05 grams, and is struck to a purity of 22 carat or 24 carat (depending on the year), meaning they contain 31.10 grams of pure gold.

Gold Britannia prices can vary thanks to the coin's history and numismatic appeal, with certain years or designs being particularly desirable with collectors. The price of a new gold Britannia coin will typically be based on today's gold price, with a small premium to cover the cost of manufacturing and supply of the coin. Older or rare gold Britannia coins can cost considerably more than the UK gold price. With the global price of gold being primarily calculated in dollars, periods in which the pound is weak versus the dollar will see UK gold Britannia prices rise, while a strong pound would see lower prices in the UK.

Our gold Britannia prices are displayed in real-time, updating every two minutes in-line with the current gold spot price. The gold Britannia price shown includes fully insured delivery.

Gold Britannia Value

Investors often ask what is the value of a gold Britannia? British gold Britannia coins have a face value of 100 Pounds. It is important to note that the face value is a nominal amount that has no bearing on the actual value of the coin. As mentioned, the gold Britannia coin's main value can usually be worked out based on the current gold price. It is this simplicity that makes gold bullion coins appealing. They are bought and sold based on their intrinsic metal value without having to worry about any numismatic value and a more complicated selling process.

You can always find a simple benchmark value for a gold Britannia thanks to the publicly available spot price. The value of a gold Britannia is therefore generally the same regardless of the year and is just based on the metal content. Some years of gold Britannia might command a further premium. A lower mintage, or special design could see their value increase beyond their metal content.

The easiest way to work out a Gold Britannia value is to use its gold weight of 31.10 grams and multiply that by the current gold spot price in grams. Despite the coin having a purity of 916.7 or 999.9 fineness, all Britannia coins contain the same amount of gold, and the 24 carat gold Britannia value will give you an accurate price for all years of the coin.

How Much are Gold Britannia Coins Worth?

If you are wondering how much are gold Britannia coins worth, a simple rule of thumb is that a gold Britannia has 31.10g of pure gold, exactly 1 troy ounce. If you see the gold price in troy ounces you can therefore work out how much a gold Britannia is worth quite quickly.