Description
Owen Tudor was the first to use the image of the Red Dragon of Wales as a badge. He was a Welsh courtier and the second husband of Catherine of Valois, the widow of Henry V. Owen was the grandfather of Henry VII, who founded the Tudor dynasty.
The obverse of these coins includes the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as referenced above. Her Majesty ascended to the British throne in 1952 following the death of her father, the king. Her coronation ceremony was held in 1953 and included 10 plaster statues of Queens Beasts.
On the reverse of the 2017 1/4 oz British Queens Beast Dragon Gold Coin is the image of the Red Dragon of Wales. The dragon is often depicted holding a shield bearing a lion in each quarter of it, which was the coat of arms for Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, who was the last native Prince of Wales.
Jody Clark is the designer of both images on the Queens Beast Collection. In July 2015, Clark (a Royal Mint Engraver) developed the first new effigy of Queen Elizabeth II for British coinage since the 1998 right-profile portrait from Ian Rank-Broadley. Clark, just 33 years old, became the youngest engraver to complete a portrait of the Queen for the Royal Mint and has also been tasked with the creation of the Queens Beast imagery.
