Coin News
The Father of Television – John Logie Baird celebrated on UK 50p
It’s hard to imagine life without television but back in the early 1920s, it was a complete unknown.
That was until John Logie Baird successfully produced televised objects in outline in 1924, transmitted recognisable human faces in 1925, and demonstrated the televising of moving objects in 1926.
To celebrate the life and works of the ‘Father of Television’, an Innovation in Science 50p was released, designed by London based agency, Osborne Ross.
The design features key milestones from Baird’s life, presented between the lines of transmission radiating from the centre of the coin.
The Father of Television
At the age of 34, John Logie Baird set about experimenting in television – the start of a passion which was to drive him for the rest of his life.
By early 1925, Baird was successful in demonstrating one of his experiments to the public, in Selfridges’ display window on Oxford Street, London. Bemused shoppers were treated to ‘a recognisable, if rather blurred’, image of simple forms such as letters printed in white on a black card.
Baird’s breakthrough came in 1925 when he produced a recognisable image, complete with shades of grey and in 1926 he gave the world’s first public demonstration of television.
To mark this incredible breakthrough in technology, John Logie Baird now joins the likes of Rosalind Franklin and Stephen Hawking in The Royal Mint’s Innovation in Science series.
Innovators in Science Series
In 2019, The Royal Mint confirmed a new series of coins commemorating some of the most influential Innovators in Science.
2019 Stephen Hawking 50p
The series kick-started with a 50p commemorating Stephen Hawking, less than a year after his death.
Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’ enlightened millions to the workings of the universe and revolutionised the way we understand time and space. As an ambassador for science, his significant contributions to humanity have left a lasting presence on all of us.
The striking design by Edwina Ellis features a stylised black hole to reflect his breakthrough work, as well as an inscription of his name and most notable ‘Bekenstein-Hawking formula’ describing the thermodynamic entropy of a black hole.
2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p
In the year that would have marked her 100th birthday, The Royal Mint released a 50p celebrating the life and crucial work of Rosalind Franklin, the first female scientist to be commemorated on a UK coin.
David Knapton’s striking design of this coin, features a depiction of Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray, ‘Photograph 51’, which revealed the helical structure of DNA, in her laboratory at King’s College, London.
One of Britain’s greatest scientists, Franklin made a crucial finding to the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA.
Outside of the Innovators in Science series, we’ve seen an impressive selection of engineers and innovations celebrated on our UK coins…
2001 Wireless Transmission £2
In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian physicist, succeeded in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving theories that the curvature of the earth would limit the transmission to 200 miles or less.
The message – simply containing the Morse code signal for the letter ‘s’ – travelled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland in Canada and won him worldwide fame and a Nobel Prize in physics in 1909.
This £2 coin was issued in 2001 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this outstanding breakthrough. 4,558,000 of these coins entered circulation.
2004 Steam Locomotive £2
The first steam engine locomotive was built by mining engineer Richard Trevithick and travelled from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales to Abercynon on its first journey in 1804, carrying 10 tons of iron, 5 wagons and 70 people on the 9 mile trip.
This £2 coin was issued in 2004 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of this impressive development in transportation.
The reverse design pays tribute to this first engine known as the ‘Pennydarren‘ which started the growth of railway transport in the 19th Century.
5,004,500 of these coins entered circulation. Have you found one?
2006 Brunel £2
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was an English mechanical and civil engineer whose designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
He is perhaps best remembered for the network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts constructed for the Great Western Railway as well as the Clifton Suspension Bridge which crossed the River Avon.
This £2 coin commemorates the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1806 and features a portrait of Brunel against a section of the Royal Albert bridge, wearing a top hat with a trademark cigar in his mouth.
7,928,250 of these coins entered circulation. Have you found this coin in your change?
Brunel is perhaps best remembered for the network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts constructed for the Great Western Railway as well as the Clifton Suspension Bridge which crossed the River Avon.
This £2 commemorates the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1806 and features a section of the roof of Paddington Station – one of his most famous works.
7,452,250 of these coins entered circulation in 2006, making it the rarer of the two Brunel £2 coins.
Secure the 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p in the 2021 Annual Set
The 2021 John Logie Baird 50p is now sold out, but you can still get your hands on it as part of the 2021 Annual Coin Set, featuring 4 other incredible coins from 2021.
UK’s FIRST-EVER Peter Rabbit™ £5 enters the cosy burrow of UK coinage!
“What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood?” – Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other Beatrix Potter stories span across generations, with each and every one of us having fond childhood memories of these wonderful characters.
Get ready to journey back to childhood as Change Checker is foot-thumpingly excited to reveal that the UK’s FIRST-EVER Peter Rabbit™ £5 coin is available to add to your collections!
Inspired by Beatrix Potter’s classic tales that have enchanted readers of all generations for more than 100 years, this brand new release is set to be incredibly popular amongst Beatrix Potter fans and collectors alike.
The reverse design by Ffion Gwillim perfectly captures a heart-warming scene from the original, much-loved Beatrix Potter stories.
To secure this UK FIRST for your collection in Brilliant Uncirculated quality, in official Change Checker packaging for JUST £10.99 (+p&p), simply click here >>
Since 2016, Peter Rabbit has encouraged a whole new generation to start collecting – featuring on not just one, but FIVE 50p coins in the Beatrix Potter series. And now the tale continues as Potter’s most famous character makes his debut appearance on a UK £5 coin.
Join us in this blog, as we journey down the cosy burrow of the Beatrix Potter series and explore the tale of the sought-after 50ps…
A Woman Ahead of Her Time
Beatrix Potter truly was a woman ahead of her time. Not only was she an accomplished children’s author and illustrator, she was a passionate and knowledgeable farmer and conservationist – long before it became popular.
Potter was always encouraged to draw, and she spent many hours of her childhood making intricate sketches of animals and plants, revealing an early fascination for the natural world that would continue throughout her life.
However, it’s fair to say her enchanting tales of countryside characters, including Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle skyrocketed her to stardom. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902 and it instantly became a best-seller!
The Series That Inspired a New Generation
It was in 2016 that Peter Rabbit escaped from Mr. McGregor’s garden and made his first debut on United Kingdom coinage.
Issued to celebrate 150 years since the birth of renowned Children’s author, Beatrix Potter, this 50p changed coin collecting forever.
This series of coins continued into 2017, 2018 and 2019. Fifteen Beatrix Potter coins have now been issued since 2016, each featuring one of Potter’s delightful characters, from Flopsy Bunny to Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
Peter Rabbit is the only character to feature more than once in the Beatrix Potter 50p series, with no less than 5 coins issued to celebrated the nation’s favourite little rabbit.
In 2020, The Royal Mint confirmed that Peter Rabbit’s 50p tale had sadly come to an end with the issue of a brand new coin.
This means there are fifteen Beatrix Potter 50p coins to collect and now we’re delighted to see a brand new £5 coin has been added to the mix.
With Peter Rabbit proving to be one of the UK’s most popular characters to ever feature on UK coins, this new release is set to prove incredibly sought-after amongst Beatrix Potter fans and collectors alike.
Will you be securing this brand new £5 coin for your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure the 2021 UK Peter Rabbit™ £5
This Peter Rabbit™ £5 coin has been specially struck and encapsulated as a Change Checker CERTIFIED Brilliant Uncirculated issue.
It has then been protectively encapsulated in Official Change Checker packaging with the all-important security hologram to guarantee its quality forever.
Own the 2021 UK Peter Rabbit™ £5 today in superior Collector Quality, for JUST £10.99 (+p&p) by clicking here >>
Royal Mint pays tribute to Alfred the Great with brand new £5!
One of the only kings in British history to have been given the title of ‘Great’, Anglo-Saxon King Alfred, was famous for his laws in education and fair governance.
In the 1,150th anniversary year of his coronation, The Royal Mint has commemorated his reign with a brand new £5 coin, with a design dedicated to the Alfredian educational reforms.
Alfred took over as King of Wessex in 871 in the middle of a year of nine major battles between the West Saxons and Vikings. He was also tested in 878 when he was forced to retreat to the marshes of Athelney (Somerset), the scene of some of the legendary stories about him, including the well-known ‘burning of the cakes’.
However, Alfred came back to win a decisive victory in the same year over his Viking opponent Guthrum at Edington (Wiltshire).
John Bergdahl’s design of this brand new coin is based on the Alfred Jewel, one of the most celebrated historical artefacts surviving from Anglo-Saxon England.
It was thought to have been once attached to a handle and used as a pointer stick for reading. Made of enamel and quartz, and enclosed in gold, the Alfred Jewel is inscribed “aelfred mec heht gewyrcan” meaning “Alfred ordered me made”.
This exceptional and unusual example of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship now features on this new UK £5 in a fitting tribute to Alfred the Great, who had a reputation as a learned man who encouraged education.
In Alfred’s mind, learning was essential to his kingdom but most of his people were illiterate, even in their native tongue. To combat this, Alfred established a school at court, where freedmen of adequate means could learn to read, he had books translated from Latin to English, and told monks to begin writing the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, which would later act as the primary source for the early history of England
You can secure the brand new 2021 UK Alfred the Great £5 in superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £10.99 (+p&p) by clicking here >>
There have been some incredible UK coins that have celebrated our Kings of England. Scroll down to discover more…
2020 King George III £5
The 2020 George III £5 was issued as part of the 2020 Annual Coin Set to celebrate Britain’s longest reigning King, 200 years after his death.
King George III was the first king of the United Kingdom (which was officially formed in 1800) and to this day remains the longest reigning king in British History, reigning for an astonishing 59 years.
Throughout his reign, Britain fought in wars against France and America and from these wars the country emerged as a world power.
Designed by renowned Royal Mint designer, Dominique Evans, the famous portrait of George III has Windsor Palace to the left and the King’s Observatory to the right.
2017 King Canute £5
To celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the coronation of King Canute, a £5 coin was issued by The Royal Mint.
Recognised as one of the most prominent kings of the Anglo-Saxon era, Canute is widely remembered for conquering kingdoms across northern Europe including England, Denmark, Norway, and areas of Sweden.
King Canute’s achievements and influence paved the way for the nation we recognise today. He strengthened the currency, initiating a series of coins of equal weight to those being used in Denmark, so it’s only fitting that the design of this £5 coin was inspired by the original currency of King Canute.
2009 Henry VIII £5
Henry VIII had an eventful reign over four decades from 1509 – 1547, overseeing the union of England and Wales in 1535 and founding the Royal Navy.
However he is most well-known for having six wives, two of whom were executed under the charge of treason. In later life, Henry became grossly overweight as a consequence of not being able to exercise after a jousting incident, which hastened his death in 1547.
This £5 coin was issued by the Royal Mint in 2009 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII to the throne. The reverse design by John Bergdahl features a recreation of the famous standing portrait of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein.
2018 Prince Charles £5
In a blog dedicated to our Kings of England, it’s only fitting we pay tribute to our future King, Prince Charles.
On the 14th November 2018, HRH The Prince of Wales celebrated his landmark 70th birthday.
To mark this milestone and to honour his lifetime of dedication to the British people, an official commemorative UK £5 coin was issued by The Royal Mint.
The reverse features a new portrait of the prince by widely respected engraver Robert Elderton, who was once an apprentice engraver at The Royal Mint at its previous home in Tower hill more than 50 years ago.
There have been some incredible UK coins celebrating British Kings, with the brand new 2021 UK Alfred the Great £5 being no exception.
Do you have a favourite? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure the brand new 2021 UK Alfred the Great £5 for your collection!
Secure the brand new 2021 UK Alfred the Great £5 for your collection for JUST £10.99 (+p&p) today >>
Your coin will come in superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality presented in official Change Checker packaging.