Posts Tagged ‘Royal Mint’
Royal Mint announces a treat for Olympic 50p Collectors
With 25 days to go until the Olympic Games in Rio this Summer, the Royal Mint have released a coin that’s sure to excite the hundreds of thousands of people who collected the Sports 50p coins for the London 2012 Olympics.
The new UK Team GB 50p Coin
This UK 50p coin has been released to wish Team GB success in Rio this summer.
The coin’s obverse design features a swimmer with the Team GB logo, the Olympic rings and the inscription ‘TEAM GB’. Designed by Tim Sharp, the coin has been officially endorsed by Team GB and celebrates the spirit of the British Olympians.
The 30th Olympic 50p
In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games, 29 million Olympic 50p coins were released into circulation across 29 different designs – 1 for each Olympic sport.
Remarkably the Royal Mint estimated that 75% of those coins were removed from circulation as collectors clamoured to complete the collection, with many coins like Football and Judo barely ever seen in your change today.
[read more about which Olympic 50p coins are the rarest]
The top 10 rarest Olympic 50p coins
The new Team GB coin will surely become known as the “30th Olympic 50p” and with so many established collectors, it seems certain that its release will be greeted with much excitement.
The 2016 UK Team GB 50p
If you can’t wait to find this coin in your change you can add the Brilliant Uncirculated Team GB 50p to your collection now.
Happy Birthday Ma’am!
Not only is our Queen now the longest reigning monarch in British history, but today Her Majesty is celebrating her 92nd Birthday – the only British sovereign to reach this milestone.
To celebrate, we’ve put together a timeline of the most significant moments in history while looking through some of the coins that have adorned Her Majesty’s portraits through the years.
Elizabeth immediately became Queen after her father King George VI passed away. Her Coronation was delayed for 16 months because of a traditional period of mourning that follows the death of a Monarch. The first commemorative crown of her reign was designed by Gilbert Ledward and captured the hearts of the nation.
The first coins of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign featured the first portrait of Her Majesty by Mary Gillick. The portrait is remembered for reflecting the optimistic mood of the nation and was also used on coinage in many of the commonwealth countries.
In 1965, a crown was released by the Royal Mint which changed everything. This particular Crown is famous for being the first British coin to feature anyone outside the Royal Family – Sir Winston Churchill.
On Decimal Day, the UK and Ireland decimalised their currencies. The new currency system meant that the pound would be divided into units of ten, including half, one, two, five and 50 pence.
The marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip Mountbatten took place on the 20th November 1947 and in 1972, the couple celebrated 25 years together. The Royal Mint issued the first British coin to have a face value of 25p to mark their 25th Wedding Anniversary.
The thirteenth Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh in 1986 which saw the striking of the very first commemorative £2 coin. Not only that, it was the first coin to commemorate a sport.
The very first bi-metallic coin was issued in 1997 – one year prior to the portrait change. This coin is the one and only year that Raphael Maklouf’s portrait appears on the bi-metallic £2 coin. His portrait features Queen Elizabeth II wearing a necklace, which earned the coin its unique status and nickname in the collecting world, the ‘Queen with a Necklace’ £2.
2011 saw the introduction of a new design for the 1oz Silver Britannia who has a long standing history with British coinage. The coin features the 4th portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley which is regarded as being a realistic and mature representation of the Queen.
In 2015, British History was made as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated an incredible Royal milestone, becoming our longest reigning monarch. This remarkable £20 coin was issued in celebration and features all 5 portraits of Her Majesty. The obverse features the fifth portrait of Her Majesty as 2015 was the first year that the Jody Clark portrait was used on UK coinage.
To celebrate the 90th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II a selection of brand new commemorative coins were issued. Designed by Christopher Hobbs, the coin depicts nine roses – one for each decade of her life as well as the number ’90’ in the centre.
2016 proved to be a significant year for collectors and the 90th Birthday celebrations were no exception. The coins that appeared throughout Her Majesty’s reign have proved to be very popular over the years and we’re sure the 90th Birthday commemorative coins will be favourites among collectors in years to come.
Own your own piece of numismatic history
Add the 2016 UK 90th Birthday CERTIFIED BU £5 to your collection today >>
The Shakespeare £2 coins have been released into circulation…
***MINTAGE FIGURE UPDATE***
In 2019 it was revealed that the previous mintage figures of two of the Shakespeare £2 coins weren’t correct..
Below are the correct mintage figures for all three of the 2016 Shakespeare £2 coins:
- Shakespeare Histories: 5,655,000
- Shakespeare Tragedies: 4,615,000
- Shakespeare Comedies: 4,355,000
It’s been confirmed that the Shakespeare £2 coins have been released into circulation, and this is your chance to find one… or all three!
After the exciting news last month that the Peter Rabbit 50ps had been released into circulation in certain parts of England, it seems to be happening again.
Getting your hands on a brand new coin is an achievement, and we’re certain these Shakespeare £2 coins will be just as popular as the Beatrix Potter 50p’s, so it’s best to be quick.
To mark the 400th anniversary of the most influential literary figure in British history, three £2 coins have been released to honour the work of William Shakespeare.
The brand new Shakespeare £2 coins have been amongst the favourites of the coins due for release in 2016 and when the designs were revealed back in November, the Skull design received a lot of attention, not just from collectors.
The three different £2 coins honour Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies and historical works and have been released into circulation just in time for the 400th anniversary of his death on the 23nd April 2016.
The coins have gone into the tills at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon where Hamlet is currently being performed.
Stratford-upon-Avon was where William Shakespeare spent the beginning and end of his life. It is where he was born and bought up, and it also appears it is the place in which he spent the last three years in retirement, with his wife and three children before he died in 1616.
The coins pay tribute to each of Shakespeare’s major genres and the reverse designs take inspiration from his most famous plays, including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth.
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