History in your hands

Trial by jury

This commemorative coin honours the 400th anniversary of the passing of The Bard of Avon. Seasoned coinage artist John Bergdahl recognises that Shakespeare’s tragedies are interwoven with the theme of love and combines a skull with a rose to capture that sense of doomed romance.  

But this is no ordinary release from the range. Every year at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, financial dignitaries gather for a special judicial ceremony – the Trial of the Pyx. In a ritual that has barely changed since medieval times, they meet to ensure that the coins made by The Royal Mint are of the correct weight, diameter and composition required by law.

For the very first time, coins selected for testing and transported in Pyx boxes to the hands of jurors are available to buy. Presented complete with a brochure, a letter and a book about the Trial of the Pyx from The Goldsmiths’ Company, with a certificate of authenticity hand-signed by Graeme Smith, The Queen’s Assay Master, each coin has passed through this historic process.