Hundred newly-minted 50pence pieces worth £50 bearing King’s image swapped for sword at Coronation

London: A hundred silver-coloured newly-minted coins of 50 pence bearing an effigy of the crowned King will be exchanged for a glittering Jewelled Sword of Offering as part of an ancient custom during the coronation, a media report said on Saturday.

The Lord President of the Privy Council, and Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, will carry out the task, redeeming the sword for the bag of silver-coloured coins, worth £50 in total, at the altar in Westminster Abbey, reported The Independent newspaper.

She will become the first woman in history to present the intricate, tapered, priceless sword, which was made for George IV’s extravagant 1821 coronation, to a monarch, the report said.

The exchange - modernised in decimalised currency introduced since the last coronation 70 years ago - forms a traditional part of the ceremony, in which a peer offer the price of 100 silver shillings in return.

The small velvet bag was used at the coronation of Charles’s grandfather, George VI, in 1937 for the same purpose, it said. The sword, a royal symbol of power and the monarch accepting his duty and knightly virtues is encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds and a scabbard decorated with jewelled roses, thistles and shamrocks.

The sword will be first blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and then carried to the King by Mordaunt.

It will then be placed in the King’s right hand and clipped to the golden coronation sword belt aka the girdle around his waist.

After that, it will be unclipped, with the King stepping forward to offer it to the Dean of Westminster who will place it on the altar.

Mordaunt will then receive the sword after exchanging it for the redemption money which she places on an alms dish held by the Dean.

She will draw the sword and carry it in its “naked” form - without its scabbard - before the monarch for the rest of the service, the report added.

The King’s effigy has been created by renowned British sculptor Martin Jennings, and has been personally approved by His Majesty, a Royal Mint release had said earlier.

The commemorative coins, made of cupro-nickel, were released by the Royal Mint last month to mark the coronation which depicts Charles wearing a Tudor crown.

On the reverse side, it features a drawing of Westminster Abbey by the Royal Mint’s resident designer, Natasha Jenkins, above the King’s cypher and crown.

The Latin inscription surrounding the effigy reads “• CHARLES III • D • G • REX • F • D • 5 POUNDS • 2022” which equates to ‘Charles III, by the Grace of God, King, Defender of the Faith’, it said.

The effigy will start to appear on circulating and commemorative coins over the coming months.