April 2021 Releases - Equinox Behind Us, Spring Is In The Air

@rjlavoie: Glad to hear things are back in place for you!

If I was a "Royals" collector, I believe I would be strongly tempted by the new two-coin / Canada-UK set commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's 95th birthday.

I think the Canadian coin has a clean, interesting and well-executed design on each of its sides, and the commemorative reverse of the UK coin is also well-executed. On the downside, the set is a bit pricey at $250, but I wonder how much of that is due to the UK coin - The Royal Mint is never bashful with their prices!

I am not as charged by the designs... I see them as derivative... the UK coin reminds me closely of the 1972 Silver wedding anniversary crown... I know it is different but from a casual glance the earlier coin jumped out at me. Similarly with the Canadian reverse... it is clearly inspired by the 1953 coronation crown issued by the UK.

I do agree 100% that this is a $190 set masquerading as a $250 set. at $190 it is priced similarly to other "2 oz" unadorned RCM issues. Of interest, the same set is available on The Royal Mint site for 200GBP ($350 CAD at today's exchange rates)

Both mints say that this set has a mintage of 6,500 worldwide but the UK Mint states that they are limiting to 2,000... presumably 4,500 are available through the RCM.

The UK coin is odd though...
1) The Face Value Denomination is 2GBP. Most UK Crowns are 5GBP. This has the same size as a crown.. 38.6mm but is 1 oz of 99.99% Silver
2) The Royal Mint is issuing a 5GBP crown with identical design (except for face value) and the fact that it is only 28g of Sterling (.925) silver for 90 GBP
3) The RCM site says that this set is the only way these coins will be released and that is consistent with The Royal Mint given their other "crown" is 5GBP and lesser in intrinsic value.
4) The Royal Mint is also issuing the 5GBP crown in the usual set of variants from base metal to Silver Piedfort and 22K gold. There are also Gold ounce(s) available. One interesting variant release is a base metal crown in a presentation pack but includes circulation (worn) coins (Farthing through half crown) from 1926... I like it but at 160GBP. As you say @commems... the UK mint is far from bashful in their pricing.
5) There is a different reverse design in the UK that is being used for larger weight coins (Gold & Silver).

Interesting perspective on the coins in the Royal Celebration Set. I don't agree, but that's OK!

There's no denying that the design on the reverse of the 2021 UK coin does recall certain visual elements of the 1972 Crown, but there are enough differences to make the new design fresh to my eyes. After all, if there's one mint that loves to rehash old coin designs, it's the RCM, so I can't fault another mint for effectively updating a design from almost 50 years ago.

As for the reverse of Canada's coin, while the new coin is clearly inspired by the UK's 1953 Coronation Crown, I don't see it as the same design. I see the new design as being much cleaner than the one on the 1953 coin - fewer inscriptions will do that! Also, fewer inscriptions and no "EIIR" cyphers enabled a larger primary figure to be presented on the coin. I think the horse is better detailed on the new coin, as is the depiction of QEII. Overall, I find the 2021 coin to be an attractive and successful update to the UK coin of nearly 70 years ago. If I had to pick between the two designs, I would pick the 2021 version.

Thanks for this... I have not followed The Royal Mint as closely as the RCM in the past few years... While I am known to complain about the quantity and pricing of RCM issues, The Royal Mint has taken this to a new level and I have truly checked out... Many of their "crown" issues are released in "Base" metal, Silver, Silver Piedfort, and Gold. There are occasionally bullion equivalents also released. Additionally, they aren't really NCLT as the "LT" is dropped within a year or so in that you cannot use one of these in daily retail transactions. Try to use a cupro-nickel crown in a grocery store for 5GBP value.

I do maintain my collection of pre-decimal circulating sovereigns, crowns, double florins, and proof sets... my post decimal UK collection is much more limited and focused on personal key dates (family birthdays) and the odd opportunistic find. A bit of a shame as it was a gift from my grandfather that got me into coin collecting so many years ago when I still lived in the UK... (he gave me an UNC Sovereign from my birth year when I was 5). I so want to collect UK but find it exhausting, repetitive and financially ruinous...

It appears as if April was a fairly good month for the RCM and its releases - lots of "Sold Out" labels on the New Releases page.

I realize that this doesn't necessarily mean a given coin isn't available from dealers, but it still means something about the level of general interest when coins sell out at the Mint.

I completely agree! I've thought the same for years. It would be great to know what is coming and when. Most world mints don't offer such transparency, however, so the RCM is not alone.

If the Mint found that their current release strategy was negatively impacting sales, it would likely change it. Apparently, the Mint believes things are working fine.