In a blog post from the Royal British Mint, some broader plans and specific changes for their Gold Britannia and Silver Britannia bullion coins are discussed.

Specific changes include altering the specifications of the coins. The gold coins will be changed from the current composition of 22 karat gold (91.67%) to 99.99% purity.

The silver coins will be changed from the “Britannia silver” composition of 95.8% purity to 99.9% purity. The new purer compositions match those used by many other world mints for their bullion coins.

The packaging will also be revised, changing from blisters to tubes. The use of tubes is common for lower premium bullion offerings from other world mints.

The post also speaks more broadly about “expanding into the bullion market”. This will be done though refining their strategy via the composition and packaging changes mentioned above, as well as taking “a proactive approach to acquiring new customers”.

Currently, the Royal Mint probably has a relatively small share of the world bullion market compared to other mints. As an example, for many years they have limited their one ounce Silver Britannia bullion coins to a mintage of only 100,000, which is minor compared to the sales in the millions achieved by the Royal Canadian Mint, US Mint, and Austrian Mint.

Personally, I have favored the Silver Britannia coins in part due to the low mintage limit. If the Royal Mint is planning on expanding their market share, this seems like it would have to involve removing or increasing the mintage limit on the Silver Britannia. If production of future issues is much higher, this seems like it could have a positive impact on the earlier issues which would have lower mintages by comparison.

Yesterday, the Royal British Mint launched two limited edition sets to mark the 25th anniversary of the release of the first proof Gold Britannia coins in 1987.

Britannia has appeared on English coins since the seventeenth century and has become an emblem for Great Britain. The release of gold proof Britannia coins in 1987 was followed by silver coins in 1997. Currently, there are annual releases of gold and silver bullion coins as well as various numismatic versions. Designs have rotated, although several years have used the original 1987 design, which has also been selected for 2012.

The 2012 Britannia 9 Coin Silver Set includes nine one-half silver ounce coins featuring all nine of the designs featured since 1987. The sets come with a 25th anniversary booklet and certificate. The worldwide mintage is limited to 2,012 sets and the price on the Royal Mint site is £500.00. (Royal Mint page)

The 9 Coin Gold Set includes one-half ounce gold coins featuring the nine designs. The sets also come with a booklet and certificate. This set is apparently limited to just 25 and only available to purchase exclusively via The Royal Mint’s international contact center at 1-866-519-7298. I have not seen any indication of the pricing, but I am guessing it would be into five figures.

These sets would surely make for a stunning display, but they are priced at a premium to intrinsic value which is more aggressive than most other world mints. For the few years I have been watching Royal Mint products, I have seen them offer some extremely high end products with very limited mintages that are likely targeted at a very upscale market as opposed to the typical collector.

I have been enjoying the Britannia coins with the annual purchase of the one ounce silver bullion versions. I have yet to venture into any of the proof versions or numismatic sets.