That's worth a pretty penny: The £1,000 Jubilee coin that costs you £60,000 to buy



The Royal Mint has made it's first ever coin to weigh a kilo in pure gold as a special tribute to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.



But while the heavy commemorative coin has a denomination worth £1,000 it costs £60,000 to buy because of its rarity and value as a collector's item.



The coin required a special parliamentary bill to be passed enabling its £1,000 face value to acquire legal tender status.

Worth your weight in gold: This picture shows both sides of the Royal Mint's first ever coin to weight a kilo in gold to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Only sixty of a kind: The kilo coin, pictured next to a £1 coin, has a face value of £1,000 but costs £60,000 to buy because of its rarity as only 60 were made

Only 60 of the collector's coins have been made, which feature the Royal Coat of Arms that grace the gates of BUckingham Palace, depicted in astonishing detail by the master sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley.

Underneath, a detailed representation of St. George slaying the dragon hangs between two numerals on either side, denoting the year of issue '2012'.



On the reverse side the coin depicts the Queen wearing the robes of the order of the Garter, one of the oldest orders of chivalry and an honor only bestowed on the recipient by the Queen herself.



She is also wearing the Queen Mary’s Tiara, which was a wedding present to the Queen from her Grandmother in 1947, and previously portrayed on British and commonwealth coinage from 1964.

A coin fit for a queen: The Royal Mint needed special dispensation from parliament to make the £1,000 coin legal tender

Royal coinage: Collectors can buy the kilo coin, which features the Royal Coat of Arms, directly from the Royal Mint

Rank-Broadley's previous works include the recent reverse designs for both the five pound and ten pound Diamond Jubilee coins as well as the current coin circulation portrait of the Queen in use since 1998.



The new kilo coins have a diameter of 100 millimetres and are presented in a wooden case made from the chestnut trees within Great Windsor Park, which surrounds Windsor Castle.



Each coin comes with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity and booklet together with a numbered plaque and can be purchased directly from the Royal Mint.

Collectable: The UK's first ever silver Kilo Coin with a face value of £500 costs £2,600 to buy

Commemorative coin: The Royal Mint made 1,250 Silver Kilo Coins that measure 100millimetres each

The emblems on the coins were designed by the renowned Ian Rank-Broadley who has previously worked on five and ten pound Diamond Jubilee coins

The Royal Mint also made 1,250 kilo coins in fine silver with a face value of £500, which are less rare than the gold coins, and cost £2,600 to buy.



The gold and silver coins, weighing in at one kilo each, are part of an overall series of coins issued to celebrate the Queen's 60-year reign.

