Posts Tagged ‘RNLI’
The 50p that’s guaranteed to float your boat – The RNLI 50p!
The 2024 UK RNLI 50p has just dropped anchor and is ready to swim straight into your collection!
I know a lot of you will be wanting to get your hands on this one, because we asked you to vote for your favourite design from the Annual Set, and the RNLI 50p won with a huge 50% of the votes!
So if you just cant wait, click here to secure your 2024 UK RNLI 50p for just £5.99 >>
Or, keep reading to find out a bit more…
History of the RNLI
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, better known as the RNLI, was founded by Sir William Hillary in 1824, and 2024 marks its 200th anniversary. From being the first organization to use steam-driven lifeboats in 1890, to providing crucial maritime support during the first and second world wars, to opening their training college in 2004 – the RNLI have been making history and saving lives at sea for 2 whole centuries.
Credit: Chris Downer, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Each year, coins marking key anniversaries and historical figures are chosen to feature in the Annual Set – and this year was no exception with coins celebrating the National Gallery, Sir Winston Churchill, the Paris Olympics and of course, the RNLI.
A ‘mast’erpiece designs
The reverse design incorporates key symbols of the RNLI, with the flag in the centre, surrounded by a life ring and rope. Inscribed on the life ring are the years of the charity 1824-2024 as well as ‘200 years’, marking that incredible milestone.
Did you know…
The iconic RNLI flag wasn’t introduced until 1908. The first version designed by Leonara Preston in 1884 who used the St George’s cross as the basis for the flag, adding the RNLI lettering, the Tudor Crown worn by King George VI and a foul anchor in the centre.
Credit: Sodacan, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Oast House Archive, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The design was updated in 1953 to represent the change of monarch to Queen Elizabeth II when the Tudor Crown was swapped for the St Edwards Crown. It’s this version of the flag that’s been proudly flown at all lifeboat stations since, but I wonder if they’ll change the design again for King Charles III?
Let us know what you think in the comments!
Supporting a great cause
As well as a design paying tribute to 200 years of the institution that has saved over 144,000 lives, The Royal Mint are donating 5% of every RNLI 50p sold to the charity*, allowing them to continue their great work.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen proceeds from a UK coin go to a worthy cause. Just last year, The Royal Mint donated 100% of the profits from the 2023 NHS 50p to NHS Charities Together, an organization that provides incredible support to NHS staff, patients and communities.
The 2023 UK NHS 50p commemorated 75 years of the National Health Service, and it’s estimated that the total donation figure reached £225,000 – an incredible way to celebrate three-quarters of a century of the great British organization.
So do you agree with 50% of collectors – is the RNLI 50p your favourite coin from the 2024 Annual Set? Perhaps you have a personal story involving the RNLI that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!
Secure your 2024 UK RNLI 50p
Secure yours 2024 UK RNLI 50p for just £5.99 >>
*The Royal Mint Limited will contribute 5% of the price excluding VAT in support of the RNLI. Payments are made to RNLI (Sales) Ltd (which pays all its taxable profits to the RNLI, a charity registered in England and Wales (209603),Scotland (SC037736), the Republic of Ireland (20003326), the Bailiwick of Jersey (14), the Isle of Man (1308 and 006329F) and the Bailiwick of Guernsey and Alderney.