This reproduction Richard III Angel is moulded directly from an original coin and is made from lead-free pewter that is 22ct gold plated.
Housed in specially designed packaging, the coin pack has an image of Richard III on the front, the two coins in the collection inside, as well as historical information about the coins and about Richard III.
The original Angel was struck between July 1483 and June 1484 with the obverse of the coin depicting St Michael and the dragon and the reverse a ship bearing the royal shield.
Richard III was pronounced King on 26 June 1483 and was crowned on 6 July. In October 1483, the Duke of Buckingham led a rebellion to depose Richard III and it was proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile in Brittany and take the throne but the Duke’s forces deserted him and the rebellion collapsed.
Henry Tudor landed in West Wales in 1485 with a small French force. He recruited more soldiers and on 22 August 1485 his 8,000 strong army faced Richard’s army of 12,000 at Bosworth Field. Richard fought bravely but was struck down in the conflict and Henry Tudor became King Henry VII.
Richard III did not receive the noble burial of a king and for centuries his final resting place was a mystery. Then in 2012 a skeleton was dug up on the site occupied by Greyfriars, Leicester. In February 2013 it was announced that this skeleton belonged to Richard III.