25 Pounds - Charles III Merlin, Gold Proof

The Merlin coin is part of the Royal Mint's broader "Myths and Legends" series, launched in 2019 with a dragon design and expanded annually thereafter. The 2023 Merlin issue draws on the Arthurian tradition as filtered primarily through Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae, where Merlin first appears as a developed literary figure rather than a folkloric fragment — a distinction the Royal Mint's research team has historically acknowledged in its series notes.

Struck in .9999 fine gold, this is among the purest gold coin productions in the Mint's modern output. Proof dies for this series are typically polished to a higher standard than the bullion equivalents, and mintages are kept deliberately low.