Elton John - Music Legends United Kingdom 5£ 2020 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin

Denomination: £1
Maximum Coin Mintage: 15000
Fine Silver 99.9 %
Weight 15.71 g
Diameter: 27.00mm
Reverse Designer Bradley Morgan Johnson
Obverse Designer Jody Clark
Quality Proof
Year 2020

Celebrate one of the best selling British artists of all time
The only coin in the range displayed in a colour printed acrylic block
A Limited Edition Presentation of 14,000
Features the official portrait of Her Majesty The Queen on the coin's obverse
Struck in 999 fine silver and finished to Proof standard

Denomination: £1
Maximum Coin Mintage: 15000
Fine Silver 99.9 %
Weight 15.71 g
Diameter: 27.00mm
Reverse Designer Bradley Morgan Johnson
Obverse Designer Jody Clark
Quality Proof
Year 2020

Born in Brixton, South London, in 1947, David Bowie began life as David Robert Jones. By the time he was 19 he had taken on his iconic name and was taking the first steps in one of the most innovative and influential careers in the history of sound and vision. His music electrified generations, and his perpetual state of reinvention kept music fans enthralled.

The third coin in our Music Legends collection celebrates rock’s definitive chameleon with a design inspired by an image of the singer from his time spent living and recording in Berlin. The inclusion of the lightning bolt motif from the Aladdin Sane era captures Bowie’s career journey, and the moment he finally put aside the props to emerge as an artist in his own right.

Available as limited-edition precious metal Proof editions and a standard Brilliant Uncirculated edition, the Brilliant Uncirculated edition is also available with three different slipcase covers, exclusively available from The Royal Mint and are a fitting tribute to the career of one of British music’s most enduring icons.

Face value: 5 €
Diameter: 34 mm
Weight: 19.1 g
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 45,000

The obverse of this euro collector coin is dominated by the head of a brown bear in profile. Centrally positioned above the head is the Slovak coat of arms. The denomination and currency ‘5 EURO’ appear along the lower left edge. Inscribed along the upper edge are the name of the issuing country and the year of issuance: ‘SLOVENSKO 2023’. At the right edge is the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies.

Reverse:
On the reverse is a depiction of a female bear and her two cubs hunting fish. Inscribed along the upper edge are the Slovak name for the brown bear ‘MEDVEĎ HNEDÝ’ and the animal’s scientific name ‘URSUS ARCTOS’. At the lower right edge are the stylised initials ‘TL’, referring to the coin’s designer Tomáš Lamač.

The brown bear is Slovakia’s largest predator. It has a stocky body, small eyes and ears, a short tail, pronounced claws, and thick fur that is 8 to 12 cm long and comes in a wide range of shades from light brown to almost black. The adult male can weigh up to 350 kg. Brown bears in Slovakia are concentrated in the central, northern and north-eastern mountain areas. The brown bear is an omnivore that prefers to live in mixed and coniferous forests. Its diet is 90% vegetable matter with the remaining 10% consisting of carrion, smaller animals, insects and, occasionally, sick or injured hooved game. Bears hibernate in dens from around early November to April. Female bears and their cubs are the first to enter the dens and the last to emerge from them. Male bears seek out females only during the mating season, usually from the end of April to the beginning of August. The cubs are born during January and February in the safety of the winter den. At birth they are blind, have short fur and weigh less than 500 g. Bears in the wild can live to be more than 30 years old.

Face value: 5 €
Diameter: 34 mm
Weight: 19.1 g
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 40,000

The black stork is an unmistakable bird species. The adult has mainly black plumage with white underparts, long coral red legs and a long pointed beak. The beak and eye areas are the same colour as the legs, and the black plumage has an intense greenish-purple sheen. Adults weigh between around 2.4 kg and 3.2 kg. Black storks are distributed throughout most of Europe and Asia, and most forest areas of Slovakia are nesting sites for these birds. They typically nest in mature deciduous and mixed forests, preferring areas with wetlands and watercourses where they can forage for food. They select large trees with strong horizontal branches and show high fidelity to breeding sites and nesting trees. The base of the nest is formed by thick branches, while the interior is lined with twigs, clumps of grass, lichens and moss. The female lays two to four eggs. Both parents feed the fledglings by regurgitating food onto the nest floor. Black storks feed on smaller fish, amphibians, insects, gastropods, small mammals and small birds. They migrate to wintering grounds mainly in August and September. In Slovakia, the black stork is a protected species.

Obverse:
The obverse of the euro collector coin depicts a black stork hunting on a body of water. In the background is a tree with a stork’s nest. An adult stork is depicted flying towards a chick in the nest, carrying food in its beak. On the upper left side is the Slovak coat of arms and, above it, the year of issuance ‘2023’. On the right side is the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies. Inscribed along part of the right edge is the name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’.

Reverse:
The reverse design depicts a black stork taking flight. To the right of this image are the denomination ‘5’ and currency ‘EURO’, one above the other. In the lower part of the design, next to the stork’s legs, are the stylised initials ‘MŠ’, referring to the coin’s designer Marie Šeborová. Inscribed along the lower edge and separated by a medial dot are the Slovak and scientific names for the black stork: ‘BOCIAN ČIERNY’ and ‘CICONIA NIGRA’.

Quality: Uncirculated
Face Value: 10 Euro
Diameter: 32 mm
Material: Copper
Total Weight: 15 g
Mintage: 130 000
Without capsule


In England the peony is sometimes referred to as the ‘rose royale’ and the Chinese word for peony means ‘the most beautiful’. Peonies have been painted by many European artists and the opulent beauty of the peony has long been a popular subject in Chinese and Japanese literature, painting and decoration. A Chinese legend has it that a capricious empress commanded all the flowers in her garden to blossom at the same time. All acquiesced apart from the peony. Annoyed by the flower’s refusal, the empress banished it to the coldest reaches of the empire, yet despite the inhospitable environment, the peony thrived. The empress, duly impressed, allowed the peony to return, declaring it the ‘queen of all flowers’.

Face value: 5 €
Diameter: 34 mm
Weight: 19.1 g
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 40,000

Obverse:
The obverse of the euro collector coin depicts a male European bison with trees in the background above and fallen branches in the foreground below. The Slovak coat of arms appears in the lower right of the design, just below the year of issuance ‘2024’. The name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’ is inscribed along part of the left edge. In the lower part of the design are the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies, and the stylised letters ‘KL’, referring to the coin’s designer Karol Ličko.

Reverse:
On the reverse, a depiction of a European bison’s head dominates the centre and right of the design. Above the head are the coin’s denomination and currency, ‘5 EURO’. The Slovak name of the European bison, ‘ZUBOR HRIVNATÝ’, is inscribed along the upper-left edge, and the scientific name, ‘BISON BONASUS’, is at the lower-left edge. The two names are separated by a beech twig with leaves and nuts.

The bison is Europe’s largest land mammal, with its build resembling that of cattle. It has a relatively short, rounded head and is covered with brown hair from head to tail. The forequarters are bulkier than the hindquarters and are further accentuated by longer hair. Strong, hollow horns are a permanent feature of both sexes and grow with age. Bison are most active at dusk, and their vision has adapted accordingly. Their best-developed senses are hearing and smell. They can live to around 35 years of age. Bison are a social animal that typically live in herds of 8 to 13 animals, though older males tend to be solitary. They feed mainly on green and woody plant matter, including branches, bark and leaves. They prefer younger forest stands with dense undergrowth. In winter, their staple food sources are brambles, tree bark, shrubs and dry grass, which they dig out from under the snow. The bison’s historical range extended almost throughout Europe. In Slovakia today, approximately 70 individuals of the species live wild on a reservation in the Poloniny National Park.

Face value: 5 €
Diameter: 34 mm
Weight: 19.1 g
Metal: Brass
Mintage: 45,000

Obverse:
The obverse depicts, to the left, an eastern imperial eagle perched on a branch and, to the right, an eagle in flight with wings outstretched. The Slovak coat of arms appears in the upper right of the design, directly below the year of issuance ‘2025’. Inscribed along the upper edge is the name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’. The coin’s denomination and currency, ‘5 EURO’, are positioned in the lower right, below the flying eagle. To the left of the perched eagle is the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ between two dies.

Reverse:
The reverse features the head of an eastern imperial eagle, occupying most of the design field. In the lower part, overlying the eagle’s neck, is a nest containing two eaglets and an egg. The scientific and Slovak names of the eastern imperial eagle, ‘AQUILA HELIACA’ and ‘OROL KRÁĽOVSKÝ’, are inscribed along the edge around the eagle’s head. The stylised initials ‘TL’ of the designer, Tomáš Lamač, appear next to the lower right edge.

The majestic king of the plains—the eastern imperial eagle—is the rarest species of eagle found in Slovakia. Although the name ‘imperial’ suggests exceptional size, it is not the largest eagle in the country. It is rather the eagle’s origin that is unique, as it started spreading here from the southern European steppe in the mid-20th century. It is distinguished from other eagles mainly by two prominent white spots on its wings. The eagles usually build their nests in tall trees, and the female lays one to three eggs. The eaglets hatch after 43 to 45 days and emerge from the nest 70 to 75 days after hatching. Initially, only the male provides food for the chicks, but as they grow larger, the female also contributes. The eagle preys mainly on small rodents, young hares, pheasants, partridges, and members of the crow family. In Slovakia, where there are only around 100 nesting pairs, the eastern imperial eagle is a protected species, and the country is therefore important in terms of efforts to conserve the species in Europe.