The Britannia is The Royal Mint’s flagship bullion coin. Gold Britannias are struck in 999.9 fine gold and silver Britannias in 999 fine silver, each containing exactly one troy ounce in the standard size, with fractional sizes down to 1/10 oz for gold. Since 2021 the coins carry advanced security features including a latent image and micro-text, making them among the hardest bullion coins to counterfeit.
Like Sovereigns, Britannias are UK legal tender and therefore exempt from Capital Gains Tax. Gold Britannias are also VAT-free as investment gold. Silver Britannias carry 20% VAT on purchase, which is the single biggest cost consideration for UK silver stackers and the reason many silver buyers weigh coins against exchange-traded alternatives carefully.
Premiums on gold Britannias typically run slightly higher than Sovereigns per coin but lower per gram at the one-ounce size. For larger gold purchases, Britannias usually offer the best combination of low premium, liquidity and tax efficiency available to a UK buyer. Fractional sizes cost more per ounce but are useful for divisibility and gifting.
The one-ounce gold Britannia tracks the spot price almost one-for-one, since it contains exactly one troy ounce of pure gold. Our Britannia calculator shows the live melt value across all fractional sizes, so you can see at a glance how much premium a dealer is charging over the metal content before you buy.
For silver buyers, the VAT arithmetic matters. Because 20% VAT is added on top of the premium, you need the silver price to rise substantially just to break even when selling back to a dealer (who will quote a price below spot). Some investors therefore hold silver Britannias for the very long term, or prefer a silver ETC inside an ISA to avoid the VAT drag entirely. Both are legitimate strategies; the key is to understand the cost before committing.