Why the Lion is so Tired

Here in the UK we have laws to protect the welfare of animals.  And quite rightly too!  So, when it comes to food production, the testing of cosmetics or the production of clothing, there are strict guidelines to adhere to.  But all of this appears to have gone out of the window as far as coins are concerned……

It began years ago, but the most recent phase of animal abuse and overuse started in 2017.

This was the year that The Royal Mint released their first ‘Queen’s Beasts’ five pound coin.  Although, if you want to get really technical, the story would begin properly with the bullion coins which had ‘inspired’ (aka made movers and shakers aware of a nice gap in the five pound market) these.  And the first coin in this series was the ‘Lion of England’.

  I’m sure the Lion sat proud and felt well chuffed on that 2017 coin!  And I am sure he was still okay with it all when Mint decided to release him on a 2018 release to celebrate the success of the England team (God alone knows what this celebration was as I actively avoid ‘footy’ so I am blissfully unaware lol).

However, by the time they dragged him out for a third showing in 2019 to celebrate the success of the England team (God alone knows what this celebration was as I actively avoid cricket too, so I am blissfully unaware also lol), the Lion was growing weary.  He had had his moment and had been perfectly content with being featured on the first release.  But now he wanted to be left alone.  In relation to Warhol saying that everyone would get ‘their fifteen minutes’, the Lion had already been on stage at least forty-five minutes :/  He was also kind of peeved that Mint had showed him in exactly the same way three times over – all through a now much milked Jody Clark portrait.  He wasn’t no ‘one trick pony’…. He was a Lion!  Grrrrrrr!!!!

But then….. all was quiet and all seemed well.  The Lion was allowed to rest and the coin world moved on.  But not for long……

WHAM!

  Quite suddenly, in 2022, the Lion was shaken awake and forced to feature on yet another coin.  He was shocked!  Sure, this portrait of him was a new one by David Lawrence but all the same; it was only three years since he had bedded down.  And to make things worse, he was now part of another RM franchise – the ‘Tudor Beasts’ series!  Oh boy.  You see, the reality is that most of the coins in this have all the same animals on them as the ‘Queens Beasts’ ones did.  Jeez.

Now the Lion is worried.  It is only a matter of time before some England team win some ‘important’ event in some capacity and he is dragged out of his cave yet again.  He is so, so tired and all he wants to do is rest.  Surely there is some legislation regarding all of this?

So, if anyone out there reading this knows of a way to help the Lion, please get in touch.  You can leave a brief message along with contact details in the comments box at the bottom of this post.

Thank you.

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© Article and images (except where stated) copyright Mik Smith 2022

MAIN IMAGE – snatched away from, modded and reblogged from tes.com

SECOND IMAGE – reblogged from dailymotion.com

THIRD IMAGE – reblogged from filmaffinity.com

‘CHOON PORTAL’ IMAGE – snatched from FIRST image…..