500 Pounds - Charles III The Angel; Silver Proof

The Angel is the longest continuously issued gold coin type in English history, originating under Edward IV in 1465 and taking its name from the Archangel Michael depicted in the original design. The denomination was traditionally presented by English and later British monarchs to sufferers of scrofula during the "Royal Touch" ceremony — the monarch would handle the coin before giving it to the patient as a supposed cure. Charles I distributed them at his last public touch ceremony in 1648, the year before his execution.

This kilogram silver proof revives the Angel name under the first Charles to reign since that troubled monarch — a coincidence the Royal Mint has left entirely unremarked in its documentation.