The Princess of Asturias, Leonor, is celebrating her 18th birthday on October 31st, 2023. CasaReal has announced plans to celebrate her birthday. Another confirmation we received as a new coin marking the 18th birthday of Princess Leonor – The Future Queen of Spain. Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre-Real Casa de la Moneda (The Royal Mint of Spain) will be published a new €40 coin on October 31st.
The new coin will feature Princess Leonor’s effigy on one side and her court of arms on the other side. The face side of the coin will read ‘Felipe VI Rey de España – 2023 – Princesa Leonor‘. The back side will be Leonor’s Coat of Arms with Victoria Cross, the mint mark, a royal crown.
The Royal mint confirmed that they will be issuing around one Million coins, made of 925 silver and rest will be copper, weighing 18 grams with a diameter of 33 millimetres, to mark the milestone birthday of the Future Queen. The coin will be distributed by the Bank of Spain, credit institutions, the Royal Mint and the designated public and private entities, upon individual requests.
To avoid the repetition of history, The Royal Mint and CasaReal scheduled a special photo shoot of Princess Leonor during Easter break this year when Leonor was home from Atlantic College of Wales at the Royal Palace of Zarzuela. We got a glimpse of the photo shoot and a picture that is used on the new coin during RTVE sepcial ‘Open Audience’.
This is the first time when Princess Leonor will be appearing on a coin alone. In 2018, The Royal mint released a special coin featuring both King Felipe VI and Princess Leonor marking the 1300th anniversary of the Kingdom of Asturias. But the €30 silver collector coin was received with a huge criticism as Leonor’s effigy on the coin did not look like her at all.
“Taking into account that she is a very young person, from five years ago until now, her appearance has changed radically, it was important to have that updated image” – Isabel Valldecabres, President of the Royal Mint
October in general is big month for Princess Leonor. Last week she participated in the Flag Oath ceremony in the presence of her parents. This week, she will be attending the National Day Parade and then will attend the annual Princess of Asturias awards between October 19 to 21st and then the month will end with formal and informal events marking her 18th birthday that includes a Constitution Oath and family dinner.