In a small town near Cardiff more than 7,000 coins fly off the press each day.
The Royal Mint, in the Welsh town of Llantrisant, is behind a modern-day gold rush, as Britons buy coins to dodge capital gains tax and seek a safe haven from global turmoil.
Last year, customers bought a record £750million worth of gold bullion coins from the Mint. There has been a 329 per cent jump in gold coin sales in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2024, indicating last year’s gold coin sales record is likely to be smashed.
Nestled on the edge of the Rhondda Valley, the red brick of the Royal Mint’s brutalist architecture sticks out against the rolling green hills.
When the Royal Mint was moved here from London’s Tower Hill in 1968, Llantrisant was chosen as its new home, in part because of the vast open space the site offered.
The town’s population is around 15,000 and almost everyone who works at the Mint lives locally.
Helen Kirrane with £100,000 worth of Britannia gold bullion coins
During my visit to the Llantrisant HQ, Andy Dickey, director for precious metals at the Royal Mint, tells me: ‘Tax rules can change, what won’t go is the inflation-hedge aspect of gold. [It] has always generally performed well in times of uncertainty and instability.’
A major draw is that bullion coins from the Mint are exempt from capital gains tax as they are classified as legal tender, while gold bars and coins bought outside of the Royal Mint are not.
The gold price has soared 33 per cent this year, with conflicts, trade wars and other fears fuelling the surge. This has helped the Royal Mint make bumper profits from precious metals, with latest figures showing it is raking in £20million a year – a far more lucrative endeavour than any other arm of the business.
Investors are turning to physical assets. While holding £100,000 worth of half ounce gold Britannia coins on a tray, it’s easy to see why.
Each of the half ounce coins is worth £1,290.81 at the time of writing and there are 77 per tray, worth £99,391.60 in total.
There is also the weightier and more expensive 1oz version of the Britannia coin, which costs £2,549.41.
Gold bullion coins from the Royal Mint are exempt from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) as they are legal tender
But no coin will make it in or out of the Royal Mint’s airport-style security. You must leave any coinage you have on you in a safe deposit box, and bags are scanned before entering and on leaving.
The Royal Mint typically mints 300 gold bullion coins an hour, or 7,200 in a day. Around half these coins are shipped to trade partners in Asia, Europe and North America.
It also recently invested in a Precious Metals Recover Facility, which opened in August 2024. Here the Royal Mint can extract up to half a ton of gold for every four tons of recycled RAM computer circuit boards it receives. A significant amount of the gold the Royal Mint sells comes via its buyback service where people can cash in on items at home.
A one ounce gold Britannia coin costs £1,200 and has a purity of 999.9
Most British customers buying bullion opt for either Britannia or Sovereigns, the Royal Mint’s flagship offerings. These come in sizes ranging from 1/10 of an ounce to one ounce and cost between £244.70 for a single coin and £255,205 for a box of 100.
Sovereign coins are 22k gold and Britannia coins are 24k gold. Stuart O’Reilly, market insights manager at the Royal Mint, says: ‘Sovereigns are having a resurgence in popularity due to their unique weight and heritage and their more accessible price point.
‘People are looking at smaller weights for a more affordable entry point into gold.’ Due to surging interest, the Royal Mint says it is increasingly working with private banking intermediaries on behalf of clients.
Gold Britannia coins are minted in a hydraulic press which can mint around 300 coins an hour
Andy Dickey says a typical customer now spends £2,000 on average with the Mint. But some ultra-high net worth gold bullion investors have £20million worth of gold held in the building’s vaults.
Core customers are men in their 60s but women now make up 25 per cent of the customer base, up from 10 per cent before 2020. And demand from Gen Z is also picking up, although these customers tend to buy fractional coins at a lower cost.
The Royal Mint believes the gold rush will continue when it announces its sales figures later this month. Henk-Jan Rikkerink, global head of solutions and multi asset at Fidelity International, believes gold will continue to respond well to further geopolitical ruptures.
He says: ‘We’re entering a phase where traditional safe havens like US assets can no longer shoulder global portfolios. Investors must actively rewire their allocations in line with shifts in geopolitics, inflation dynamics, and trade.’
The Royal Mint also produces gold and silver bars in addition to gold and silver bullion coins
Gold investors should know that investment in gold bullion coins from the Royal Mint is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Buyers must also factor in delivery or secure storage costs. Some of the coins never leave the Royal Mint and instead go straight into its secure vault where those buying gold can store it.
Around 35,000 customers currently store gold, silver or platinum in the Royal Mint vault, with individual holdings ranging from £20 to £20million.
It costs between 1 to 2 per cent of the value per year, depending on product, and is charged quarterly.
The Royal Mint also has a sustainable gold Exchange Traded Commodity which is listed on the stock market (ticker RMAU). This fund tracks the price of the metal by owning bullion, which is stashed in its vault. You can also purchase a fractional amount of gold bars held in the Royal Mint vault through digital gold.
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