Posts Tagged ‘The Royal Mint’
Just 2,013 new UK Coronation coins released today
Just 2,013 new UK £5 Silver Coronation Coins have today been released as part of an exclusive Proof Coin Collection issued by The Royal Mint.
Released today: the UK Silver Coronation Coin
Struck in 925/1000 Sterling Silver to an immaculate proof finish, the £5 Coronation Crown marks the most important Royal event of 2013.
The ‘Crowning’ glory
Emma Noble’s exquisite St Edward’s Crown design recalls the moment almost sixty years ago when the young princess Elizabeth, watched by millions, was officially crowned Queen in Westminster Abbey.
Everyday coins
with a unique finish
Alongside the £5 Silver Coronation Coin, the other eight coins in the new Coronation Jubilee Executive Proof Set – the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 – are newly dated 2013 coins in their original circulating metal.
That’s not to say these are the exact same coins you’ll find in your change – every single one has been finished to the highest possible proof standard.
New limited edition set features the new £5 Silver Coronation Coin as its centrepiece.
With just 2,013 Silver Coronation Coins released today, demand to own the new Coronation Proof Set is sure to be high.
**This item has now sold out**
Please click here for a selection of Coronation coins available.
Royal Mint abandons Britannia Silver
After 25 years the Royal Mint has abandoned Britannia Silver as a standard for UK coins.
First introduced under the 1696 Coinage Act to combat the melting down of sterling silver coins, the Royal Mint most recently revived the standard in 1987 for the introduction of the £2 Silver Britannia Coin. As a nod to its design, the Royal Mint opted to strike this coin to the Britannia standard – 958/1000 silver (95.8% pure).
Whilst this made the Silver Britannia Britain’s purest silver coin, it created a problem with its international popularity, as the rest of the world does not recognise this uniquely British silver standard.
For quarter of a century, the Mint continued to maintain the Britannia standard but this year they have finally abandoned it in favour of the more internationally accepted 999/1000 purity, bringing the silver Britannia in line with other 1 ounce silver coins, like the US Eagle, Chinese Panda and Canadian Maple Leaf.
For keen-eyed collector, you will notice the diameter and overall weight of the coin has fractionally reduced as less total metal is required from the new purer alloy to give the coin 1 full troy ounce of pure silver.
So what do you think? Is the loss of a long-held silver quality from the UK’s coinage a sad loss to tradition or should the Royal Mint move with the times and ensure that our nation’s coins remain amongst the most popular the world-over?
Coin Collecting – a fascinating and rewarding hobby PART I – Where to Start?
Coins are all around us, not just in Britain but all over the world. There are 28 billion circulating in this country alone! Your collecting adventure could take you anywhere – and as far back as 700 BC – and you’ll find yourself picking up a wealth of knowledge about geography, history, economics and even politics. It’s a world of fascination just waiting to be discovered!
The great thing about coin collecting is that you can collect exactly what you want, when you want. Reach into your pocket or purse and take out a handful of coins. There will be different values – perhaps pence, two pence, five pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, one pound, and two pounds. They will have different dates, different portraits and be in different conditions.
You can start right there, collecting circulating UK coins from your loose change. Later you can add coins that are in perfect condition – proof or uncirculated – that you don’t find in your change. You could go deep into history – many Roman coins have been unearthed over the years and are surprisingly affordable. You could save particular sorts of coins such as pre-decimal pennies or sovereigns. One fascinating field is to collect “commemorative” coins, struck to celebrate a particular event or anniversary. The first step, though, is to establish a relationship with a coin dealer you can trust.
The Westminster Collection – a helping hand
A small error in striking or a rare mint mark can hugely increase the value of a coin. This has led to people altering or forging coins and offering them for sale to unsuspecting collectors. Dealing on the internet needs particular care as some offers may not be quite as good as they seem.
There are of course many reputable coin dealers who can guide and assist you every step of the way. The Westminster Collection is one of the largest and most established collector-facing companies in the UK. Founded by Stephen Allen in 1987, The Westminster Collection is an authorised distributor and principal UK agent for several of the world’s leading mints. This means that you will be one of the first to buy before an issue sells out and receive pre-release notifications, often at special collector prices. When you buy from Westminster, you have complete quality assurance, enjoy interest-free credit and the right to return any purchase within 30 days. For the beginner or experienced collector, The Westminster Collection provides a safe and rewarding path on your collecting journey.
Coins – a brief history
Coins last a long time – especially if they are made of gold. Which means that we have still have the first ever coins from Lydia (now in modern Turkey) minted around 650 BC. From there they were spread by the Greeks and Romans around the known world. Coins circulated in Celtic Britain, but the Roman occupation from 43 AD to about 410 AD, brought in a flood of Roman coins and later, coins from local mints. After the Romans left Britons went back to bartering. Not until the 7th century did the dominant Anglo Saxons start minting coins.
Hammered coins
At this time all coins were made in roughly the same way: you started with a round blank of gold, silver, copper, bronze or a mixture. You put this on a die (a piece of hardened metal engraved with a reversed-out pattern) and put another die on top. Then you hit the top die with a hammer. Finally you remove your finished coin known as a “hammered” coin.
The milling revolution
Hammering persisted until the sixteenth century, when a new method was tried in France. It was known as “milling”, using a screw press rather hammering, and produced coins of much better quality. For the next century it was tried in Britain but only fully replaced hammering after the 1660 restoration. Coinage had entered the machine age. The next leap forward came in 1796 when Matthew Boulton used his steam engine to power a new coin press – this was just in time for the Royal Mint to meet the massive demands of the great recoinage of 1816.
Decimalisation
This brought in “token coinage” – coins with intrinsic value less than their face value. Even so, gold and silver coins still circulated in Britain until 1917 when gold was withdrawn. The last silver coins were replaced with cupro-nickel in 1947. Then in 1971 came the end of centuries of tradition when the pounds, shillings and pence system was replaced by today’s decimal based coinage.
Next time – Part II – What to Collect?