When HRH The Princess of Wales, the then Catherine Middleton, and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, both said ‘I do’, they accepted gold wedding bands from their respective husbands, sourced from Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine.
The Princess of Wales attends The Order of The Garter service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in June 2023
Welsh gold — and Clogau gold in particular — has long been prized for its connection to the Royal Family. In fact, as well as The Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Diana, Princess of Wales, all wore Clogau gold wedding bands. But it has also been prized for its rarity — with a total of 80,000oz mined since 1854 (for comparison, the world’s biggest gold mines can extract more than 1,000,000oz in a single year) and resources assumed to have been exhausted at some point in the 1990s.
Until now.
In 2018, Alba Mineral Resources bought what was once the UKs richest gold mine and embarked on a series of exploration and rehabilitation programmes — with the aim of using new, cutting-edge technology to seek out new seams of gold. Their exhaustive efforts have paid off because gold has been successfully mined from Clogau once again — and it will soon be available to purchase via an exclusive auction.
Alba has minted the gold into three exclusive 28-carat, 1oz ‘Tyn-y-Cornel’ coins. The front side features a Welsh dragon atop Cadair Idris (one of Snowdonia’s highest mountains); the reverse, an image inspired by old photographs of Welsh miners.
The first of these 1oz coins came up for auction towards the end of March and sold for £20,000 — nearly 8.5 times the current gold price. A further seven due to be manufactured. The definition of ‘limited edition’, each coin will arrive at its lucky owner's house in a Welsh oak box, lined in crushed velvet.
-
A Clarkson's Farm of one's own: Five properties with just enough farmland for you and your family, from under £1 millionMoving to the country is one thing; moving to the country and being able to grow and rear all your own food is another level entirely, and all these properties offer exactly that.
-
What everyone is talking about this week: What is the right way to propose to someone?Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are the latest couple to employ 'hidden' photographers to capture their engagement — but at what cost? Will Hosie details how you should do it instead.
-
What everyone is talking about this week: What is the right way to propose to someone?
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are the latest couple to employ 'hidden' photographers to capture their engagement — but at what cost? Will Hosie details how you should do it instead.
-
‘You've survived 550 miles with me, how about a few more?’: The NHS doctors who said yes to love while retracing the flight of Bonnie Prince CharlieNothing says romance like pulling ticks out of one another, getting trench foot and retracing a key piece of Stuart history, finds Lotte Brundle.
-
Debo Mitford on her childhood at Asthall Manor, from Nancy's 'coming out' dance to Unity's peach-pinching waysThe late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire looks back on her childhood in the Cotswold idyll of Asthall Manor.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: What’s the deal with tipping these days, given that literally everything has become more expensive?Our modern etiquette columnist goes through the dos and don’ts of tipping.
-
What everyone is talking about this week: We need to trim school holidays — or give parents a tax breakWeek in, week out, Will Hosie rounds up the hottest topics on everyone's lips, in London and beyond.
-
'At the time, I wanted to move to Mexico and go into witness protection': What to do when you're stalking someone on Instagram and accidentally like a post from six years agoSophia Money-Coutts is the new Debrett's and she's here every Wednesday to set some modern etiquette wrongs, right.
-
White-tailed eagles: From 'the greatest wildlife crime imaginable' to Nature's most wonderful comeback storyDave Sexton and Alice Boyd join the Country Life Podcast.
-
Queen Charlotte's Ball is proof that young women still want to be debutantesFounded in the 18th century, Queen Charlotte’s Ball has been revived and modernised for a new generation. Eleanor Doughty finds out what’s changed-and what hasn’t.
