Posts by Rachel
First look: New Royal Mint coin designs for 2020!
Happy New Year and Happy New Coins Change Checkers!
We can’t wait to reveal to you the new 2020 coin designs and I’m sure you’ll agree that there are some really fantastic coins to look forward to.
So let’s kick off the year with the coins we’ve all been waiting for, the 2020 Annual Set…
Team GB
We all love a 50p, and in this year’s Annual Coin Set The Royal Mint have issued a brand new 50p coin to support Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Designed by David Knapton, the 2020 Team GB 50p features symbols depicting individual Olympic sports accompanied by the Olympic Rings, the Team GB logo, the inscription ‘TEAM GB’ and the date ‘2020’.
The Olympics are an undeniably popular subject and for many the 2012 Olympic 50p series marked the start of their passion for change collecting.
In 2016 a Team GB 50p was issued to support Great Britain’s efforts in Rio and this was thought of by many as the 30th Olympic 50p, but with a new 2020 Team GB coin now being issued, could this be the 31st Olympic 50p?
We certainly love the design and I’m sure Change Checkers will think it’s a real winner too!
2020 Agatha Christie £2
English detective novelist Agatha Christie published her first novel, ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ in 1920 and now, 100 years later, a £2 coin has been issued to commemorate her work.
Her 1920 novel introduced one of Britain’s best-loved detectives Hercule Poirot, who became a long-running character in Christie’s work, featuring in 33 novels and 54 short stories!
This coin has been designed by David Lawrence and features a nearly completed jigsaw puzzle with the final piece ready to be inserted, and the inscription ‘1920 100 YEARS OF MYSTERY 2020′.
Following the popularity of UK coins celebrating great British writers, such as the Jane Austen £2, Sherlock Holmes 50p, Charles Dickens £2, the Beatrix Potter 50ps and more, we’re sure that this new coin is bound to prove a real hit with collectors.
2020 75th Anniversary of VE Day £2
The next coin in the 2020 Annual Set marks an incredibly poignant anniversary, commemorating 75 years since VE Day and the end of the Second World War.
Victory Day in Europe celebrates the Allies of World War II formally accepting Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces on the 8th May 1945, marking the end of the war.
Dominique Evans‘ design features a woman holding a newspaper aloft in crowd of celebrating people, set against a backdrop of the word VICTORY.
The edge inscription reads ‘JUST TRIUMPH AND PROUD SORROW’ which is incredibly fitting for a coin which marks such a pivotal moment in British history.
2020 Mayflower £2
2020 marks the 400th anniversary of The Mayflower’s voyage from Plymouth, England to the ‘New World’ in 1620.
This voyage saw over 100 Pilgrims and around 30 crew spend two treacherous months at sea, battling against the North Atlantic wind as they journeyed to America to establish the first permanent New England colony by signing the Mayflower Compact.
Designed by Chris Costello, the Mayflower £2 shows the ship upon a rough sea, with a guiding star in the night sky and the edge inscription ‘Undertaken for the glory of God’.
Excitingly for collectors, this is not the first time that The Mayflower has appeared on a £2 coin, as a similar design actually featured on the 1994 trial piece, which often sells for well into three figures on the secondary market!
2020 George III £5
This year marks the 200th anniversary since the death of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland.
George’s life and reign were longer than any British monarch before him, although due to his deteriorating health during the last 10 years of his life, his eldest son George IV ruled as Prince Regent.
To celebrate the life of George III, The Royal Mint have issued a new £5 coin designed by Dominique Evans.
The coin features the portrait of King George III in a crowned cartouche at the centre of the coin, with his Royal Cypher below, floral emblems of the United Kingdom and scenes associated with his life from Windsor Castle and the Kew Observatory.
The announcement of the new annual coins is always an exciting moment for Change Checkers, particularly when the anniversaries are as significant as these.
Do you have a favourite coin from the set? Let us know in the comments below!
Own the 2020 Commemorative Coin Set
If you can’t wait to find these coins in your change, be one of the first to own the complete set!
2019 Change Checker Awards WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
Since the 2019 Change Checker Awards were opened to celebrate the very best people in the world of change collecting, nominations have been flooding in, and it really has been incredible to hear all of your stories from the last year.
It’s certainly meant we’ve had a really tough job deciding on the winners, but with thanks to our panel of judges from the Change Checker team and AllAboutCoins, our well deserved winners have now been selected…
Change Checker of the Year
Winner:
Lisa Strange
Lisa has been chosen as the 2019 Change Checker of the Year by AllAboutCoins for always going above and beyond in the Change Checker community. She’s helped many people complete their collections whilst also giving helpful advice and tips on coin collecting!
Well done Lisa!
Runner-up:
Tracey Hunter
Tracey has been chosen as the 2019 Change Checker of the Year Runner-Up by AllAboutCoins for her commitment and involvement to the Change Checker community.
Congratulations Tracey!
Junior Change Checker of the Year
Winner:
Oliver Cross
Oliver has been awarded 2019 Junior Change Checker of the Year by AllAboutCoins for his dedication and passion in finding commemorative coins in his change and inspiring others to start coin collecting.
Congratulations Oliver!
Runner-up:
Lethikka (Narwhal Narwhal)
Lethikka has been chosen as the 2019 Junior Change Checker Runner-Up of the Year by AllAboutCoins for her continued effort in inspiring others to start coin collecting. She has started a coin club at her school where she hopes to share the useful tips she’s learned from the Change Checker Community.
Congratulations Lethikka!
Matt, a panel member at AllAboutCoins, said:
“Once again there were many brilliant entries to the Change Checker Awards and picking the winner was really tough. It was lovely to see nominations for those collectors who had really gone the extra mile to help others and spread the word about collecting coins… I hope both winners enjoy reading more about coins on the allaboutcoins.co.uk website and in Coin Collector magazine!”
Coin Design of the Year
It comes as no surprise that the 2019 Coin Design of the Year is awarded to the 2019 UK Stephen Hawking 50p.
This coin was issued at the beginning of the year, as part of The Royal Mint’s new series celebrating Innovators in Science. It’s design, by Edwina Ellis, honours the most famous British scientist of modern times, Stephen Hawking and his contributions to the world of physics.
Hawking becomes one of only three people to be commemorated on a coin within a year of their death (the others being the Queen Mother and Winston Churchill).
Congratulations Edwina Ellis!
Coin Story of the Year
The winner of the 2019 Coin Story of the Year Award goes to Alex Nelson from iNews for his fantastic article on the 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p – the most talked about coin of the year!
Alex said, “Thanks Change Checker! What a nice surprise. Here’s hoping there’s plenty of new coins to report on in 2020! “
A big thank you once again to AllAboutCoins for supporting us this year and of course a huge congratulations to all of our winners and all the fantastic entries we had this year.
We’d like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support in 2019 and hope that 2020 is a fantastic year of Change Checking for you all!
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app
Why are some UK coins magnetic?
It’s a question many coin collectors ask, and so in this blog we’re going to get to the bottom of which UK coins really are magnetic and why!
1p and 2p coins
Prior to 1992, 1p and 2p coins were made from a bronze alloy of copper, tin and zinc.
As a result of rising prices of base metals, from 1992 onwards the composition of the coins changed to copper plated steel.
Both compositions are the same weight, diameter and design, meaning that they circulate together with no noticeable differences – other than the fact that coins with a steel core are magnetic.
The steel core of the newer coins is electroplated in copper to give them the same colour as the pre 1992 coins, so the only way to tell them apart is to use a magnet!
5p and 10p coins
As a result of metal prices rising on world markets, since January 2012 the compositions of 5p and 10p coins have been made from a plated steel, making them magnetic.
In 2013, The Royal Mint began a programme to recover old 5p and 10p coins from circulation. 330 million of new plated steel coins have been issued in their place.
In the same style as the new 1p and 2p coins, the new 5p and 10ps are electroplated, but with nickel rather than copper to give them their ‘silver’ colour.
Interesting Facts
- When plated steel coins are attached to a magnet, the coins themselves become magnetized. With a strong magnet you can attach coins to each other and ‘dangle’ them. (The Royal Mint).
- There are a higher percentage of magnetic 5p and 10p coins in circulation compared to 1p and 2ps.
- The 5p and 10p coins became 11% thicker when their compositions changed.
- In 2010, a magnetic sculpture called ‘Drop’ was created by Paul Cocksedge to encourage passers-by to attach unwanted pennies to its surface in aid of charity.
Have you noticed any magnetic coins in your change? Test it out for yourself and see if you can create your own magnetic artwork using these coins!
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app