Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's Wedding Ring Gold from Welsh Mine Available in Rare Sale

Indigo/Getty; Nils Jorgensen/Shutterstock

(Left) Kate Middleton on her April 29, 2011 wedding day in London, England; (Right) Meghan Markle on her May 19, 2018 wedding day in Windsor, England

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle wear wedding rings made from rare Welsh gold given to the royal family generations ago, and the mine it comes from is selling the precious metal for the first time in over 25 years.

On March 19, Alba Mineral Resources announced that three pure gold "Tyn-y-Cornel" coins from the Clogau-St. David’s Gold Mine in Bontddu, Wales, will be available in an auction at the end of the month. The 24-carat coins etched with a Welsh dragon mark the first new production from Clogau-St. David’s in years and a rare chance to own a piece of royal history, as the quarry was thought to have been exhausted in the 1990s.

It's been a tradition for British royal brides to use this particular Welsh gold for their wedding bands for over 100 years. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother started the trend when she married the future King George VI in 1923 with a wedding band made of pure gold from the Clogau mine using a nugget of gold given to the royal family.

The custom continued when her daughters, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, grew up and got married, with Princess Anne and Princess Diana later taking it into the next generation.

The GingerBread Agency

A Tyn-y-Cornel gold coin from the Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine in Bontddu, Wales going up for auction.

King Charles would use Welsh gold for Queen Camilla's wedding band when they wed in 2005, and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, would do the same.

Prince Harry wrote in his 2023 memoir, Spare, about how he was entrusted with carrying the "thin band of Welsh gold" Prince William had made for Kate Middleton on his brother's 2011 wedding day, "shaved off a hunk given to the royal family nearly a century before."

"The same hunk had provided a ring for Granny when she married, and for Princess Margaret, but it was nearly exhausted now, I’d heard," Prince Harry wrote in Spare. "By the time I got married, if I ever got married, there might be none left."

ANDREW MILLIGAN/AFP via Getty

Prince William and Kate Middleton marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011.

Elsewhere in the text, the Duke of Sussex recounted how there was just enough of the family gold to create a band for his wife, Meghan Markle, when they tied the knot in 2018.

"We exchanged the rings, Meg’s made from the same hunk of Welsh gold that had provided Kate’s," Prince Harry wrote in Spare about the emotional moment on their wedding day. "Granny had told me that this was nearly the last of it. Last of the gold. That was how I felt about Meg."

Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marry at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018.

The upcoming sale of the ultra-limited edition golden coins from the Clogau-St. David’s mine was made possible after Alba Mineral Resources plc acquired the rights in 2018 to what was previously the richest gold mine in the United Kingdom. Through a careful expedition using cutting-edge technology, gold has been drawn from the site for the first time in years and will be available via public auction through the sale of the coins.

The first of the three coins will be auctioned online from Sunday, March 30 to Thursday, April 3 through Alba Mineral Resources' website. Those eager to peek can check out the online preview kicking off Friday, March 20.

JOHN SIBLEY/POOL/AFP via Getty

Meghan Markle on her May 19, 2018 wedding day.

"We are delighted to announce the first public auction of our beautifully designed and crafted limited edition 1-ounce pure Welsh gold coins. This is the first gold production to come out of the historic Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine in more than 25 years and represents the culmination of a huge endeavour on the part of Alba and our dedicated technical team," George Frangeskides, Alba Mineral Resources Chairman, said in a statement.

"As Welsh gold typically fetches a significant premium to the normal spot price of gold, we are very excited to see what price these exclusive coins will fetch on the open market."