20 Pence - Charles III Puffin, Gold Proof

The puffin's appearance on British coinage has a precedent: Lundy Island, a privately administered territory in the Bristol Channel, issued its own puffin-denominated coinage from 1929 onward — technically illegal under British law but tolerated for decades. The Royal Mint's decision to feature the bird on a mainstream decimal issue is a quiet acknowledgment of that eccentric numismatic footnote.

The 22-carat specification here follows the Mint's long-established gold proof standard, unchanged since the modern proof program expanded in the 1980s.