Posts Tagged ‘numismatics’
World Coins struck by The Royal Mint
It’s common knowledge among Change Checkers that The Royal Mint strikes all the coins in the United Kingdom – and has done for centuries.
But what may come as a surprise to many collectors is The Royal Mint has historically struck coins for a variety of countries around the world!
Currently, outside of the UK, The Royal Mint provides services for over 60 different countries, including New Zealand and many Caribbean nations.
In the past, The Royal Mint has struck coins for North and South America, Africa and the Middle East!
In this blog, we take a look at our Top Five most interesting world coins struck by our very own UK Royal Mint and the stories behind them.
“From Norway to New Zealand, from Bermuda to Brunei, coins have been struck at The Royal Mint for countries all over the world.”
– The Royal Mint Museum
New Brunswick 1861 Half-Cent
Across the 18th and 19th centuries The Royal Mint, which was then based in London, minted several coins for North American states and the Caribbean.
Interestingly, in 1861 a half-cent coin, made of bronze, was minted for New Brunswick. More than 200,000 of these half-cent coins were struck, even though the denomination wasn’t actually needed.
It is said these coins were struck as a misunderstanding at The Royal Mint (that’s quite a misunderstanding!) and the majority of these were melted down. However, there has been reports that a lucky few coins have survived!
Norway 1942 25 Aurar
Many Change Checkers might be familiar with some of the coins struck by the UK Royal Mint throughout the Second World after reading our blog featuring coins struck in the UK for Iceland.
In addition to this a coinage was undertaken in the Second World War for the Norwegian government in anticipation of the country’s liberation from occupying forces.
Made out of Nickel-Brass and shipped to Norway ready for their liberation, this could have been one of the most exciting Norwegian coins in circulation.
However, the coin was never issued and the large majority of these were returned to The Royal Mint a few years later and melted down.
Nigeria 1959 Shilling
This Nigerian Shilling was made out of Cupro-Nickel, the same composition we are familiar with on modern United Kingdom 50 pence coins.
With an order of more than 1,000 million pieces for this new, distinctive Nigerian coinage, this is by far the largest international coin order The Royal Mint had ever received – quite the honour!
Hong Kong 1863 Mil
Introduced in 1863, the Hong Kong Mils were the first-ever perforated coins to be produced at The Royal Mint.
Perforated coins usually refer to coins which have a hole punched through the middle.
To date, although The Royal Mint have produced this style of coins for several other nations including East Africa, the United Kingdom has never had a perforated coin in their tender.
Australia 1951 Penny
Demand for Australian coinage in 1951 exceeded the capacity of the Brand Mints in Melbourne and Perth, and so the UK Royal Mint was approached for assistance.
Interestingly, the Australian coinage pieces struck in London are distinguishable by the addition of the tiny letters ‘PL’ which recalls a mintmark used by the UK Mint in Roman times.
So, there we have it! Our Top Five most interesting coins struck by the UK Royal Mint for countries around the world!
These coins tell quite the story of The Royal Mint’s long and important history in world coinage.
If you have any exciting coins from around the world or stories you’d like to share, let us know in the comments below!
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
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