As the one-year anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II approaches, a luxury brand company is honoring the former monarch with a commemorative coin that puts all others to shame.
The one-of-a-kind coin is valued at “around $23 million” and is a little bit wider than an NBA basketball. It’s made of 8 pounds of gold and 6,426 diamonds, weighing 486 carats. It took 83 people to create the coin, known as The Crown.
That puts the cost at about one-tenth of what the U.K. paid for the Queen’s funeral.
While Elizabeth died on Sept. 8, 2022, work started on this coin before her passing. An entity known as the East India Company is behind the work. (To be clear, the company has rights to the name of the corporation that was the world’s most powerful monopoly between 1600 and 1874, but the earlier incarnation of East India, worth $7.9 trillion in modern dollars, is not related to the current business.)
The Crown coin has a large gold coin at its center, which is surrounded by 10 smaller gold coins that feature portraits of the Queen or depictions of various virtues the company assigned to her, such as justice and courage. The flip side is covered with thousands of diamonds, arranged in the shape of the Union Jack.
“Queen Elizabeth II was an inspiration for many generations, embodying the virtues which guided her through the past seven decades and which are celebrated in this rare and exceptional tribute,” wrote Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and CEO of the East India Company, on the company’s website. “I had the idea to embark on a mission to include all British citizens as well as all those fascinated and engrossed by Queen Elizabeth II and the history of Britain in an inclusive way to share in her achievement.”
The valuation is based entirely on the materials used to make the coin. It’s unknown what it would be worth to collectors.
