Launched late last year, the series of gold and silver proof and bullion quality coins was in tribute to ‘Double 07’ and James Bond, perhaps one of the world’s most iconic literary and motion picture characters. Created by author and journalist Ian Fleming (1908 – 1964) in 1953, much of his reference to Britain’s secret intelligence service was gained while working for Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War. Fleming himself was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye, an Allied plan during the Second World War monitoring Spain and a possible alliance between Francisco Franco and the Axis powers. Fleming was also involved in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force and it was this wartime service and his career as a journalist which provided much of the background, detail and depth of the James Bond novels. The literary character and franchise has been adapted for television, radio, comic strips, video games and motion picture feature films in particular. Since 1962 with the first instalment of Bond under the title of Dr. No, they have become the longest continually running film series of all time having grossed over $7.040 billion in total, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film series to date. To date, there have been twenty-four films in the Eon Productions who operate out of Pinewood Studios with the twenty fifth feature length film No Time to Die which made its worldwide debut on the 3^rd April 2021 in the United Kingdom.

The design on this completer coin and all previous six coins is the work of award-winning design team Matt Dent and Christian Davies of the agency Bison Bison. The motif is formatted as a montage of all six designs which pays homage to the six decades of Bond. Shown clock-wise from the top –

James Bond (Sean Connery) is seated at the controls of ‘Little Nellie’ autogyro from You Only Live Twice. The second design features ‘Wet Nellie’ a custom-built submarine designed by ‘Q branch’ made from Bond’s (Roger Moore) Lotus Esprit S1 Sports Car and featured in the hit movie The Spy Who Loved Me. The third design features the Acrostar Bede Jet that memorably appeared in the opening sequence of Octopussy released in 1983. The fourth design features James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and Q Branch’s speedboat from the film’s opening chase scene on the River Thames in The World Is Not Enough. The fifth design features the memorable opening sequence of Die Another Day which includes a chase scene with a hovercraft. The sixth and last gadget features the memorable snow plane from 2015’s Spectre in which James Bond (Daniel Craig) rescues Madeleine Swann. The iconic 007 logo completes the design, stylised as it appears today and is centred along with the trademark gun barrel effect, a prominent part of the design. Encircling the overall design is the text SIX DECADES OF 007 repeated four times. The obverse of each coin option features the definitive effigy of HM King Charles III designed by Martin Jennings. The denomination from 5 POUNDS to 200 POUNDS and year of issue 2024 also appears on the obverse as part of the legend surrounding the King’s likeness. 

The BU Cupro-nickel crown coins are housed in a blister-pak type folder with informative text and illustrations. The silver proof coins are encapsulated and presented in black leatherette matte cases accompanied with numbered certificates of authenticity. The gold proof coins are encapsulated and presented in polished gloss wood cases accompanied with a certificate of authenticity. The one-ounce silver proof coins are available as a compete set presented in a custom case. For additional information about this new collector series, please visit the Royal Mint’s e-webshop.