The Royal Mint has opened its bidding on a rare ‘pattern piece’, and you could get your hands on it.
The piece was used to create the famous Una and the Lion coin design, and is an early prototype that the Royal Mint uses to test the finish and quality of a design.
These pattern pieces are incredibly rare and hardly ever available to the public, which will make this a brilliant addition to anyone’s collection.
There has been a huge increase in the popularity of coin collecting - known as numismatics - with more and more people getting into the hobby.
Many of the world’s most expensive coins are pattern pieces, so it’s easy to see why there’s so much interest in adding them to a collection.
Pattern pieces are often melted down after the coin's design has been finalised, which is why the auction of this piece is a rare and exciting one for collectors.
The pattern piece that will be auctioned is known as the Una and the Lion Gold Kilo Trial Pattern Piece .
It was part of the early stages of the creation of the 2019 remastering of the original 1839 Una and the Lion design.
It weighs a massive 1KG and is made of solid gold, making it a very valuable addition to someone's collection.
The piece was used to enlarge the original 38mm design onto the new 100mm coin, meaning the piece going up for auction still has the original 1839 Roman numerals displayed on it, rather than the new 2019 ones.
Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint said: “This piece is a genuine and authentic step in the trials process and as such of great numismatic significance. Its appeal will be just as great to the hardcore numismatist as it will to the ‘investor collector’.
The pattern piece could be a great investment opportunity for someone who already owns an original 1839 Una and the Lion coin and would like a pattern piece to complement it.
The Royal Mint is expecting a huge amount of interest in the piece, and have estimated that it could go for £250,000 to £300,000, with the possibility of it going for even more if there are some keen bidders.
The pattern piece will be auctioned off alongside 74 other lots which contain 85 items, with one lot consisting of 10 individual coins.
Every auction piece will come with proof of authenticity, including a hallmark of the quality and a unique security feature that was designed by The Royal Mint’s Chief Engraver, Gordon Summers.
The bidding opened on February 21, and will finish March 6 2022. Interested bidders can register for the auction on their website .
The auction itself will begin at 2pm on March 6, with any bids made online registered against live bids on the day.
You can also register to watch the auction if you’re interested to see how much the pattern piece finally sells for.
