Sanjiv Mehta, the CEO of the UK based East India Company has recently unveiled a whopping $23 million coin in memory of Queen Elizabeth on her first death anniversary.

‘The Crown’ coin includes 6,426 “responsibly-sourced” diamonds and 11 24-carat gold coins.

It includes a one-kilogram centre-piece coin, surrounded by 10 1-ounce coins, each embedded in a filigree of diamonds. The intricate piece has 3.6kg of gold.

The manufacturing process brought together skilled artisans and experts from India, Singapore, Germany, the UK, and Sri Lanka,

Six of the ten coins within ‘The Crown’ reflect images of the six famous virtues featured on Victoria Memorial opposite Buckingham Palace in London.

They are victory, truth, justice, charity, courage and constancy which inspired Queen Elizabeth II.

The remaining four coins feature official portraits of the late monarch by renowned portrait artists Mary Gillick, Arnold Machin, Raphael Maklouf, and Ian Rank-Broadley.

On the reverse side of the centerpiece coin is a portrait by Jody Clark.

What is EIC?

The East India Company here is the same company which set its foot in India back in 1600.

As known, the historic East India Company is a symbol of oppression and humiliation.

In 2003, a group of shareholders who owned the East India Company were attempting to revive it as a business selling tea and coffee. 

Indian entrepreneur Sanjiv Mehta procured the company name in 2005. After which he transmuted it into a customer brand focused on luxury teas, coffees, and food.

“A company which once owned India is now owned by an Indian… a feeling of the empire striking back,” said Mehta.

He opened his first store in 2010 in London’s affluent Mayfair area.

“The historic East India Company built itself on aggression, but today’s East India Company is about compassion,” he says.