1oz Britannia Privy Mark Horse | Silver | 2014

Silver Privy Horse Britannia

This is a 1oz silver coin produced by the Royal Mint. Coins will arrive packed loose for small orders and in tubes of 20 for larger orders, with orders of 500 or more being packed into Royal Mint Monster Boxes.

The special edition Britannia with a ‘Cantering Horse’ Privy mark on its outer edge was exclusively produced in 2014 only. The 1oz coin is made from 999/1000 purity silver and like all the other 1oz Silver Britannias, has a face value of £2.

Privy Horse design

The design of the coin is familiar to anyone who has bought the standard silver Britannia. It features Ian Rank-Broadley’s 5th portrait of Elizabeth II on the obverse. Meanwhile, the reverse of the coin contains Phillip Nathan’s design of a standing Britannia figure, at the water’s edge, proudly holding a trident in one hand and a shield and olive branch in the other. Around the edge of the back, the image is the crucial coin information of the Britannias name, year of mintage, weight and purity. The Queen’s portrait is surrounded by the Latin phrase “REG FID DEF” together with confirming the coin’s face value.

The horse privy mark is repeated on the outside edge of the coin and is designed to deter counterfeiting. The Horse represents the 2014 Chinese zodiac animal for that year and succeeds the 2013 Privy Snake Britannia, also reflecting the lunar series. This continued nod to China reflects the Royal Mint’s growing desire to expand the appeal of their coins to a global stage. Coin mintage was limited to 1,000,000 pieces.

What is a Privy Mark?

A Privy mark is simply a pressed mark on the edge of a coin to either differentiate it from other coins of similar design or to protect the coins from forgery by introducing another design element to make the coin harder to copy. 2013’s Privy Snake was the first year any Silver Britannias featured a privy mark, followed the next year by the Horse, the Goat in 2015, the Monkey in 2016, and most recently the Rooster. After the horse privy version, the privy editions have become rarer, with mintage limits falling dramatically.

Our expert opinion

If you love the liquidity, value and tax efficiency of the Britannia coins, but want something with a slight collector’s edge, then the horse privy mark coin achieves that for you. Premiums are only slightly higher than for the standard silver Britannias so represent great value. As a limited issue coin, albeit a rather hefty 1 million pieces, the coins have the chance to appreciate at a faster rate than the original version. Certainly, it’s worth considering the other Privy Britannias in the range which were minted in far smaller quantities, as long as you’re not having to pay too high a price. The Queens Beast series of silver coins achieve a similar balance between investment and collectors coins but double the size with 2oz coins.

These Privy horse Britannias, benefit from the other silver investment features of the familiar Britannia. Made to Brilliant uncirculated finish, they don’t command the high prices of proof coins. The 1oz size provides great liquidity and divisibility, while the face value of the coin crucially enables any profits to be free from Capital Gains Tax.