Posts Tagged ‘50p. fifty pence’
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’, a brand new 50p in the UK’s Innovation in Science series has been released, designed by Osborne Ross. a London based design agency.
The design features key milestones from Baird’s life, presented between the lines of transmission radiating from the centre of the coin.
To secure this brand new coin for your collection, in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £4.50 (+p&p), simply click here >>
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 as he’s commemorated on a brand new UK 50p.
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.
We’re so excited to see the 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p join the marvelous Innovation in Science series and we’re sure this brand new coin will prove incredibly popular with collectors!
Will you be securing these coins for your collection? Let us know in the comments!
Secure the 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p in Brilliant Uncirculated quality!
Own the brand new 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p in CERTIFIED Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £4.50 (+p&p).
Your superior collector quality coin has been protectively encapsulated in Official Change Checker packaging to preserve for generations to come.
The Giants of the Jurassic – brand new 2021 Mary Anning 50p Collection!
Are you ready to discover the mighty beasts of the sea and sky?
The Royal Mint have revealed a brand new 50p series celebrating Mary Anning and her fossil discoveries on the Jurassic coast.
Dimorphodon 50p
The final coin in the series has JUST been released and it features a design of the Dimorphodon.
The Dimorphodon was a primitive flying reptile that coexisted during the age of the dinosaurs and was first discovered by Mary Anning in Dorset.
Whilst the Dimorphodon’s 1.7m wing-span is impressive, what makes this Jurassic Giant so unique, is that its name literally translates to ‘two-form tooth’. This is due to the Dimorphodon having several large pointed teeth in the front of its jaws and much smaller ones set in the back.
The design of this brand new 50p shows both of these features in perfect detail, with the creature’s wings spanning across nearly the entire diameter of the coin and its sharp teeth in clear view.
This series has proven incredibly popular with collectors, with the Temnodontosaurus and Plesiosaurus 50p coins having taken the collecting world by storm.
Today, you can secure the brand new 2021 UK Dimorphodon 50p for your collection in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £4.50 (+p&p). To order yours, simply click here >>
What’s more, you can also order the Temnodontosaurus 50p and the Plesiosaurus 50p coins in Brilliant Uncirculated quality.
To secure the 2021 UK Plesiosaurus 50p for JUST £4.50 (+p&p), click here >>
To secure the 2021 UK Temnodontosaurus 50p for JUST £4.50 (+p&p), click here >>
Plesiosaurus 50p
The second coin in the series celebrates one of the Jurassic Coast’s greatest marine reptiles, the Plesiosaurus.
The Plesiosaurus was about 4.5 metres in length and is estimated to have weighed about 45 tonnes (that’s about 7 elephants!)
But what makes this Jurassic Giant so unique, is the power of its bite! It’s estimated that the Plesiosaurus had the largest bite force of any known animal and with teeth as sharp as needles, there’s no doubt this reptile dominated the oceans!
If you look closely, you can even see this Jurassic Giant’s teeth in the design of this 50p coin!
To secure your 2021 UK Plesiosaurus 50p in official Change Checker packaging, simply click here >>
Temnodontosaurus 50p
The first coin in the series celebrates Mary Anning’s very first ichthyosaur, the Temnodontosaurus.
The ‘cutting tooth lizard’ (as it’s otherwise known) is one of the largest ichthyosaurs to have been discovered by Mary Anning in Lyme Regis, Dorset.
This apex marine predator hunted in the deep ocean millions of years ago, but now this prehistoric beast has been brought to life once more – its likeness captured in exquisite detail on this brand new 50p.
This was first coin in the series to have been issued and you can secure one for your collection in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £4.50 (+p&p). To secure yours in official Change Checker packaging, simply click here >>
The Unsung Hero of Fossil Discovery
Mary Anning is remembered as being one of the greatest fossil hunters and paleontologists to have ever lived.
At the start of her career, she claimed her excavations were merely to explore her ‘curiosities’. Later, she was to discover remains of some of the greatest creatures to have ever swam in our shores and soared in our skies.
Famous in her home town of Lyme Regis, Dorset, Anning’s work left a legacy of fossil hunting, paleontology and science.
Dinosaur fans and historians alike, still flock to the seaside town in their thousands every year to learn more about her discoveries and to try and unearth their very own creatures in the sand and rocks!
Sought-after Series
This collection follows in the gigantic footsteps of the 2020 Dinosauria 50p series, which brought us the Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus 50p coins.
These coins were a definite numismatic highlight of 2020, with collectors quickly snapping up these dino-mite coins for their own collections. This was the FIRST-TIME ever that Dinosaurs featured on a UK coin and this year the theme continues with three prehistoric creatures being celebrated on coins.
In 2021, we get up close and personal with the Jurassic giants of the sea and air, with the Mary Anning 50p Collection.
Each coin in the collection has been designed by renowned British palaeo-artist Robert Nicholls with the expert guidance of Sandra Chapman of the Earth Sciences Department of the Natural History Museum.
It’s fair to say that the influence of the designs from the Natural History Museum will certainly make these coins popular with dinosaur fans and collectors alike!
Will you be securing these coins for your collection?
Let us know in the comments which Mary Anning 50p is your favourite from the collection!
Secure the 2021 Dimorphodon 50p in Brilliant Uncirculated quality!
You can secure the brand new 2021 UK Dimorphodon 50p for your collection in Brilliant Uncirculated quality and in official Change Checker packaging for JUST £4.50 (+p&p) by clicking here >>
You can also order the complete set of three 2021 UK Mary Anning 50p coins by clicking here >>
Why did The Royal Mint revert to the Queen’s decimal first effigy?
2021 marks 50 years since our UK coins turned decimal, in the biggest numismatic change seen in centuries.
In celebration of this significant anniversary, The Royal Mint issued not one, but TWO Decimal Day 50ps in 2021. The reverse designs are the same, but that certainly can’t be said for their obverses…
The first version of the Decimal Day 50p, available exclusively in the 2021 Annual Coin Set, features the original Arnold Machin portrait of Her Majesty The Queen on the obverse – the same obverse used for the UK’s very first decimal coins.
However, the individual coin which was released later in January, featured Jody Clark’s fifth portrait of The Queen instead.
So why did The Royal Mint revert back to the Queen’s first decimal effigy for this new issue? Join Change Checker as we take a closer look…
Spot the Difference
The 50p available in the Annual Set which features the original Machin portrait on the obverse, quickly caught the eyes of collectors as this was the first time we have seen The Royal Mint revert a previous portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II on a base metal UK coin.
Marking 50 years since our UK coins went decimal, it seemed only fitting that this coin should include Machin’s obverse design.
But, when the Decimal Day 50p was individually released later in January, collectors had the opportunity to get their hands on a second version of this coin, as Jody Clark’s portrait of The Queen featured on the obverse.
So with two versions of the 2021 UK Decimal Day 50p out there, this coin is set to become a real talking point among collectors!
Arnold Machin Portrait
The significance of this anniversary and the fact that the Machin portrait of HM QEII was the first to be used on the UK’s 50p, makes for the perfect excuse to revert back to this previous effigy on the exclusive Decimal Day 50p within the Annual Set.
The UK’s very first decimal coins (5p, 10p, followed by 50p) actually entered circulation before 1971 and as they were circulating together with pre-decimal currency, a new portrait of The Queen was commissioned to help the new coins stand out.
Arnold Machin’s new portrait showed The Queen wearing a tiara given to The Queen by her grandmother, Queen Mary.
We love the fact that collectors have the chance to see this previous portrait reused on this brand new 50p and it certainly makes for interesting collecting!
Have you secure both versions of the 2021 Decimal Day for your collections? Let us know in the comments below!
But that’s not all, as this is not the first time we’ve seen different obverses used on the same coin…
2015 Battle of Britain 50p
In 2015, The Battle of Britain 50p shot to fame as collectors were quick to spot that there were THREE different versions of the coin, with different obverses on each of them.
The Brilliant Uncirculated 50p was issued early in 2015 and was quickly dubbed an ‘error’ coin. The coins, which were sold in presentation packs, had been struck without the denomination in either numbers or writing anywhere on the coin. Chancers were quick to play to this, with some managing to sell on the coins for near to £100 each on the secondary market.
After the controversy surrounding the coin erupted, the Royal Mint confirmed that the 50p intended for circulation later on in the year would have the ’50 PENCE’ denomination. But was this after they had realised their mistake?
So how did this coin end up with three different obverses?
Each version of this coin has caused a stir in the collecting world. Not only does this Battle of Britain 50p fail to feature a denomination on the Brilliant Uncirculated version, but the obverse is different for each finish used for the coin – a first for a UK commemorative coin.
In 2019, a brand new re-issued Brilliant Uncirculated version of the Battle of Britain 50p (from the 2019 50th Anniversary of the 50p Military Set) saw Jody Clark’s portrait and the 50 PENCE denomination – making this the FOURTH version of this 50p!
Do you have any of the Battle of Britain 50p coins? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure the 2021 Annual Set with the Decimal Day 50p that features the original Arnold Machin obverse!
Own ALL FIVE brand new 2021 coins in superior collector quality for JUST £40.00 (+p&p).
Each coin has been struck to a superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality and protectively encapsulated in official Change Checker packaging, within in a Change Checker Display Page – perfect to slot into your Change Checker Album.
Order today to own the 2021 Commemorative coin Set in superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality by clicking here >>