A new coin commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth II is made from nearly 8 pounds** and about 6,426 diamonds, making it likely to be "one of the most valuable coins ever made."
In fact, the creators of this one-off luxury item valued it at "about $23 million."
On Monday, a few days before the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's death, the coin is not considered legal tender in the UK (although the denomination of the coin included in the design is considered legal tender). It was produced by the East India Company, a luxury lifestyle brand that owned the name rights to the company that once controlled large swathes of the British Empire.
The company called its work a "work of art" in a press release, dubbed the "crown". The Guinness World Record for the most expensive coin in auction history is held by a rare 1933 American Double Eagle, which sold for $18.9 million at Sotheby's New York in June 2021.
This coin has a diameter of more than 9At 6 inches, wider than NBA-mandated basketballs, its design consists of nearly a dozen 24-karat gold coins set in a bed of diamonds.
The center coin weighs more than 2 pounds, and the smaller coins around it weigh 1 ounce each, and the pattern is either a portrait of a deceased monarch or a depiction of virtues such as truth, justice, and courage.
On one side, thousands of diamonds are arranged in a shape that resembles the Union Jack, while the setting on the back is inspired by the late Queen's tiara.
The East India Company said its multimillion-dollar valuation was due in part to the quality and craftsmanship of the materials, which involved artisans and experts from the United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Germany and Sri Lanka.
The original East India Company operated for nearly 300 years before disbanding in 1874. Indian-born businessman Sanjiv Mehta acquired the name rights in 2005, along with the accompanying badge, and relaunched it as a lifestyle brand five years later.
According to the company**, his modern reincarnation sells luxury goods, including jewelry, homewares and commemorative coins, "capturing historical moments for contemporary enthusiasts and future generations to treasure."
The Crown took more than a year to make, meaning the film began before Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland last September. The coin design was produced in collaboration with St. Helena, a British Overseas Territory, and was fully approved by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II prior to the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a process managed by the Crown and the Royal, Ceremonial and Honours Department (RCU) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Speaking to CNN ahead of the unveiling, Mehta said that Mehta had gone to great lengths to invest heavily in her honor of Queen Elizabeth, calling her the "Queen of the Earth."
On average, a diamond setter can set four stones per hour," says Mehta, a family-owned business in the diamond industry. "So when you look at a piece that contains (about) 6,500 gemstones, that's a huge man-hours. ”