£2 Coins
How does it feel to design the UK’s newest circulation coin? I caught up with Aaron West to find out.
Aaron West is part of the design team for The Royal Mint and is responsible for designing the latest coin released into circulation, the Sir Isaac Newton 50p.
Aaron West, a designer for The Royal Mint, signing the new Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin pack
This is the second circulation coin designed by Aaron, the first being the very popular Great Fire of London £2.
The two UK circulation coins Aaron has designed – The Sir Isaac Newton 50p and The Great Fire of London £2
I wanted to find out what makes a coin designer tick and Aaron kindly answered some of my questions:
How long have you been designing coins for The Royal Mint and how many have you designed to date?
I have been designing coins for over four years now. I have designed many coins but have been fortunate to win two design competitions.
How did you become a coin designer for The Royal Mint?
I joined The Royal Mint in June 2011. I applied for a maternity cover position and then was given a permanent position. I have been working as a designer for over seven years.
Which coins have you designed for The Royal Mint?
I have official coins designs for a £2 coin, The Great Fire of London and for a 50 pence piece, Sir Isaac Newton.
Aaron sketching his initial Sir Isaac Newton 50p design ideas. (Image: The Royal Mint)
Can you tell me briefly the process involved when designing a coin?
There is no specific process involved when designing a coin. It depends on the subject. For example, The Great Fire of London, I broke it down to three elements. Firstly I concentrated on the bottom of the design (the river and boats) then I moved onto the middle part of the design (buildings / skyline). The third / top part of the design (the smoke) was the most difficult part. I try to keep all of my designs simple because a lot of detail will not be clear on a small diameter.
Approximately how long does it take to design one coin?
Again, it all depends on the subject. I try to spend a few days on research before I start my design concepts. If the subject is complex then I’ll spend more time on research. It takes me approximately an hour for each design (rough sketch).
These sketches show the stages of the design process for the Great Fire of London £2 (Image: The Royal Mint)
What is the most challenging aspect when designing a coin?
The most challenging aspect when designing a coin is trying to fit everything in a small area. Coins are very small so to make a design stand out is very challenging.
How do you feel when you receive a coin that you’ve designed in your change?
Unfortunately, I have yet to find any of my designs in my pocket change but I am still looking. Some of my friends and family have found them and messaged me some pictures which was very thoughtful.
I am pleased that people are looking for them which makes me very proud. I am also very proud to a part of history.
The Isaac Newton 50p coin has a very intricate design for a small area
Finally, other than one of your own (obviously!) what is your favourite coin design and why?
My favourite coin design would have to be the Jane Austen £2 coin. I like the portrait which is featured in the centre but I particularly like the inner silver edge. The inner silver edge is a picture frame which works very well. I also like the stripes which on the design, they stand out.
2017 UK Isaac Newton CERTIFIED BU 50p
Own the brand new Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin in CERTIFIED Brilliant Uncirculated condition for just £3.99 (plus p+p).
What the people of Bath think of the new Jane Austen £2 Coin
To mark the new Jane Austen £2 coin being released to collectors as an individual coin, Yasmin and I went to Bath, home to Jane Austen, to see what people of Bath think of the new coin.
And they loved it. Watch their responses below…
The coin, designed by Dominique Evans, features a silhouette of Austen and the dates 1817-2017 both overlapped with Jane’s signature. The gold outer features regency stripes, synonymous with the era in which she wrote her novels.
Jane Austen is one of the world’s best loved novelists and over the years her books have grown into a global phenomenon. Her novels have been translated into more than 40 languages with dozens of popular film and television adaptions making her widely recognised and adored.
2017 Jane Austen Brilliant Uncirculated £2 Coin
Just Discovered: Rare “Inverted Effigy” £2 Coin
It’s time to really start examining your change again.
Change Checker has just been able to confirm that a small number of “Inverted Effigy” £2 Coins have entered circulation.
The Inverted Effigy Coin has the Queen’s head rotated clockwise by approximately 150 degrees
First discovered by a Change Checker, and now confirmed as genuine by The Royal Mint, this unusual strike appears on a handful of the 2015 Britannia £2 Coins.
The Royal Mint has accounted for the seemingly impossible misalignment of the Queen’s effigy as “almost certainly the result of one of the dies working loose and rotating during the striking process”.
The result is that the Queen’s head is offset by around 150 degrees compared to the Britannia design on the reverse of the coin.
Just how rare is the Inverted Effigy £2 Britannia?
The Royal Mint is unable to give any indication of how many Inverted Effigy coins have entered circulation but we can make some initial estimates.
The first-year 2015 £2 Britannia is already one of the most-scarce circulating £2 coins ever issued with just 650,000 coins passing through banks and cash centres. That already places it third equal in the all-time low mintage charts.
We have analysed 5,000 circulation coins and our results suggest that the Inverted Effigy may have affected as few as 1 in 200 of the coins struck – in other words around just 3,250 coins.
Of course, if the Inverted Effigy is a consequence of the die slipping during the striking process, it is possible that there may be other variations where the Queen’s head is less or more misaligned as the die has worked its way out of position.
Errors, mis-strikes and myths
Of course, given the many million coins The Royal Mint strike each year, it is to their immense credit that mis-strikes and errors are so few and far between. But, of course, when they do arise, they cause great collector excitement, as some of these other examples pay testament to.
- The Undated 20p – read more
- The “Silver” 2p – read more
- The 2014 Year of the Horse Silver £2 – read more
But there are a few myths out there too – upside down edge lettering, the “Pemember” Gunpowder Plot £2 coin and the “Necklace” £2 coin, which all have perfectly normal explanations.
Buyers beware
But finally a note of caution. I’m sure in time we’ll see some “examples” of the Inverted Effigy £2 for sale online. Before you think of buying one, please beware. Are you seeing a genuine Inverted Effigy or just a coin that someone has rotated in a photograph to make it look inverted?