Posts Tagged ‘Royal Mint’
What would you put on our UK Coinage?
It’s been over a year since the New UK Coinage for King Charles III was released, featuring 8 brand new designs from the 1p to the £2!
Since the designs were revealed, the Salmon 50p and the Bee £1 have entered circulation and collectors have been rushing to find them in their change – especially the 2023 Salmon 50p which is now the UK’s rarest 50p!
New UK Coinage: British Flora and Fauna
Each of the new coins featured not only a new obverse design of King Charles III, but new reverse designs paying tribute to iconic British wildlife. His Majesty is known for his keen interest in wildlife conservation and plant life, and this passion was a key inspiration for The Royal Mint when designing the UK’s new coinage.
But we wanted to know, if you were to design the UK’s new coinage, what would you put on them?
The results are in!
The results are in and we can reveal that the overall favourite design from the New UK Coinage set is the Dormouse 1p! Interestingly, although the Bee £1 was previously voted the favourite design, it’s now been knocked down to 6th place.
We also asked which of the previous definitive coin designs you’ll miss the most once the New UK Coinage for King Charles III eventually replaces it. The vote was close, but Christopher Ironside’s decimal designs took the lead with 56% of the votes.
And finally, we asked ‘If you could design our definitive coinage from the 1p to the £2 coin, what would you put on them?’. Here are a few of your answers!
One creative collector even drew out their designs and sent them in to us!
A huge thank you to everyone who got involved, who knows – perhaps the next UK coins to be issued might just feature your ideas!
The 2025 George Orwell £2 is watching you…
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
You might recognise this motto from the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), perhaps one of George Orwell’s best known works. And if you’re a fan of Orwell’s stories, you’ll be delighted to hear that a UK £2 coin has been issued to celebrate his life and works.
An ‘eye’ for detail
The 2025 UK George Orwell £2 has been issued 75 years after the passing of English novelist, poet, journalist and social critic, Eric Arthur Blair – better known by his pen name George Orwell.
The reverse design, created by Henry Gray in collaboration with the Orwell Foundation, features an illustration of an eye in reference to the all-seeing Big Brother from Orwell’s final novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the centre of the eye is a camera lens surrounded by the iconic tagline “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”, and yet another famous quote from the story, “THERE WAS TRUTH AND THERE WAS UNTRUTH”, serves as the coin’s edge inscription.
Add the 2025 UK George Orwell £2 to your collection >>
Other works
During his life, Orwell penned several novels including Animal Farm, A Clergyman’s Daughter and Keep the Aspidistra Flying, as well as three nonfiction works, and he was even named the second-greatest British writer since 1945 by The Times in 2008, second only to Philip Larkin.
Image credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
However, his 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four remains one of the most influential books in popular and political culture, with many words and phrases from the story becoming part of the English language.
Previous UK coins issued to celebrate British literature and legendary writers have proven incredibly popular with collectors. We’ve seen the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle feature on UK coins in recent years, and George Orwell is a welcome addition.
Secure your 2025 UK George Orwell £2
Secure the 2025 UK George Orwell £2 for just £9.99 (+p&p) >>
Vote for your favourite 2025 Annual Coin design
The 2025 Annual Coin Set was released on 2nd January 2025, and we asked for your help to decide which of the five brand new coins is the best design.
The results are in!
You’ve been voting for your favourite design from the 2025 Annual Set, and we can now reveal the results…
The Royal Greenwich Observatory £2 has been voted Change Checkers’ favourite design from the Annual Set, with a whopping 30.67% of the votes!
Interestingly, in both first and second place were £2 coins, so could we be about to see a resurgence in £2 coin collecting? Remember, no new commemorative £2 coins have entered circulation since 2016, and it looks like demand for new £2 coins is definitely on the rise!
Do you agree with the results? Let us know in the comments if your favourite didn’t make it to the top!
Secure the 2025 Annual Coin Set
Add the 2025 Annual Set to your collection for just £42 (+p&p) >>