The United Kingdom’s Royal Mint has delighted royal watchers with the reveal of the official effigy of King Charles III that will not only feature as part of a coin collection honouring the late Queen Elizabeth but will also appear on coins following King Charles’ official ascension to the throne.

Sticking with royal tradition, King Charles’ portrait will face left as each new Monarch is required to face the opposite direction from their predecessor.

While announcing the new coin, the Royal Mint conveyed their “honour to now strike the first UK effigy of His Majesty King Charles III”.

“Today we are honoured to reveal the first official effigy of His Majesty King Charles III appearing for the first time on a memorial coin collection honouring the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II,” the Royal Mint said in a statement.

“At The Royal Mint, we have struck coins for the British monarchy for more than 1,100 years, and it has been our pride and privilege to strike every United Kingdom coin of Queen Elizabeth II’s remarkable 70-year reign. It is our honour to now strike the first UK effigy of His Majesty King Charles III on a coinage collection honouring the life and legacy of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.”

The effigy was designed by acclaimed British sculptor, Martin Jennings, and received the royal tick of approval from King Charles himself.

“I was delighted to hear that The King likes the image. He was very interested in it and responded very positively to it. It has been very gratifying to be involved in this important process,” Jennings said.

Jennings conducted extensive research in preparation for the production of the coin, studying countless images of King Charles for the historic design.

“You collect as many photographic images of your subject as you can. To present just one side of somebody’s head, you have to understand how the head works in the round, so you examine all of these old photographs then settle on just one or two that give you the optimal impression of the side of the head that you are modelling,” Jennings said.

“The piece is modelled in plaster larger than the size of the coin, so about the size of a dinner plate. I work by hand using tiny, tiny millimetres of material to model it. And eventually, once it is complete and cast in plaster, my original design can be digitally reduced so that the impression is the right size for a coin.”

Jennings expressed that he was “absolutely delighted” to be part of such a historic moment while thanking all those who were involved in the process.

“Although I am the original designer, there are a number of skilled experts here at The Royal Mint. Every aspect of this has been pored over by all of us. It really has been a piece of teamwork that I have been absolutely delighted to be a part of,” Jennings said.

Coins featuring the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III are expected to continue to circulate in the years to come.