First look: New Royal Mint coin designs for 2019!

Every year The Royal Mint mark the year’s memorable events and anniversaries that capture the nation by striking these stories onto circulating coins, and 2019 is no different.

Today, The Royal Mint have unveiled the new themes and designs for all the 2019 commemorative coins, and Change Checkers can look forward to some fascinating British anniversaries being commemorated.

50p: The 160th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

As the father of modern crime writing, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legacy lives on 160 years since his birth, thanks to his iconic creation – Britain’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes™.

The classic tales of Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson are treasured reads which have led Doyle to become one of the most famous writers in the world.

Reverse designer: Stephen Raw

This coin is now available to purchase individually in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here.

 

£2: The 260th anniversary of the formation of Wedgwood



The industrial revolution of the 18th century shaped Britain’s future and brought about great social changes and technological advancements. Josiah Wedgwood created his pottery empire using modern mass production methods, which we still use today.

Reverse designer: Wedgwood Design Team

This coin is now available to purchase individually in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here.

£2: The 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings

On the 6th of June 1944, the D-Day landings turned the tide of the Second World War. Allied troops landed at five different beaches codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword for the largest amphibious assault ever launched. This gave them a position from which they could advance into Germany and paved the way for victory on the Western Front and the liberation of Europe.

Reverse designer: Stephen Taylor

This coin is now available to purchase individually in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here.

£2: The 350th anniversary of Samuel Pepy’s last diary entry

Samuel Pepy’s diary entries provide detailed and personal observations from some of Britain’s most significant moments in history, such as the Restoration, the Plague and the Great Fire of London. His diary has been essential for understanding these events and their impact on people at the time and give invaluable first-hand insights.

Reverse designer: Gary Breeze

This coin is now available to purchase individually in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here.

£5: The 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria

At her birth in 1819, no one knew that Queen Victoria’s reign would span the rest of the century and make her one Britain’s most famous rulers. She came to the throne aged just 18 years old, at a time when Britain’s Empire was growing and becoming the world’s pre-eminent superpower in an era of unrivalled peace and prosperity.

Reverse designer: John Bergdahl

This coin is now available to purchase individually in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here.

The announcement of the year’s coins is always an exciting moment for Change Checkers, particularly when the anniversaries are as significant as these.

And now we can now start looking forward to finding these new designs in our change throughout the year! 


 

Own the 2019 Commemorative Coin Set

If you can’t wait to find these coins in your change, be one of the first to own the complete set!

Click here to secure your 2019 commemorative coins >>

24 Comments

  1. Mrs L Wood on January 28, 2019 at 12:46 am

    I am actually on the Royal Mint mailing list and do receive e-mails from them of all new releases. On the morning of the new 50p sets (which included the new Kew Garden coin) I read my e-mail and instantly saw that the BU set of £90 was no longer available. Later in the day my post arrived with an order form for the above so I did ring just to clarify that the set was no longer available and was told of course that they had gone. How on earth do you take advantage of these new issues when on opening my e-mail it had already sold out. Very disappointed as I actually had an original Kew Garden coin in my change in 2009 and spent it before I realised how rare it was.



  2. Bill Craig on January 24, 2019 at 6:25 pm

    Why is it that the coins are only available for about a day then they are sold out before you get a chance to order them.Even as I registered interest with the royal mint. When you apply sorry sold out is the reply



    • Rachel Hooper on January 25, 2019 at 9:07 am

      This was unfortunately the case with the 50 years of the 50p set, purely due to the fact that there were so few available. I’m sorry you weren’t able to order the coins Bill.



    • florence mc carthy on January 27, 2019 at 4:31 pm

      I totally agree with Bill’s comments some one some where is making killing with these new issues. It should be looked at. There should be a ‘level playing field’ for everyone. Who is responsible?



  3. Stephen kitchen on January 5, 2019 at 2:52 am

    When will the Tower of London or the 3 coins be released and also the £5 Queen’s beasts thank you



    • Rachel Hooper on January 7, 2019 at 8:55 am

      We don’t know the exact dates yet, but will keep you updated as soon as we do.



  4. Trevor Massry on January 4, 2019 at 4:09 pm

    This year is the 50th anniversary of the first moon landings. Surely the RM will issue some commemorative coin to mark this historic event?



  5. florence mc carthy on January 2, 2019 at 5:31 pm

    will the reissued 50p coins be issued with the original date or a date of the a or a true date



    • Rachel Hooper on January 3, 2019 at 8:34 am

      Hi Florence, these re-issued coins will be dated 2019. Thanks, Rachel



  6. Jim on January 2, 2019 at 5:06 pm

    Thanks for the superb video update introducing some of this years new coins. Short and effective.

    For me the best design so far has got to be the Sherlock Holmes 50p. The way Stephen Raw has incorporated the detective’s famous silhouette along with the names of his adventures in such a balanced way is simply stunning! Each of the £2 coins I think are also very well designed and get their messages across and I look forward adding these to my collection when (if) they eventually enter circulation (still waiting for the 2017 £2’s to hit the streets).
    The big disappointment however has got to be the £5 by John Berghdahl – It’s all a matter of personal taste of course but it strikes me as extremely cluttered, the designer squeezing far too much in. And the rendition of William Wyon’s portrait of Victoria doesn’t work – Check out the Centenary of the Death of Victoria £5 issued in 2001 as contrast. John Berghdahl has designed some superb coins previously (I just love the Shakespeare £2 trilogy from 2016 for example), making this all the more disappointing.

    Note that the Royal Mint has just released the first of the 50th anniversary 50p’s dated 2019 but only as an “I Struck This Coin” product available for Royal Mint Experience visitors. It reproduces the original Christopher Ironside Britannia “New Pence” design struck 1969 to 1981 (not 1982 as stated on their website).

    2019 looks like it’s going to be a full year for change checkers.



    • Rachel Hooper on January 3, 2019 at 8:43 am

      Thanks for the kind words Jim, glad you enjoyed the video. I think the Sherlock 50p is bound to be a hit this year! I also love the way the silhouette is framed by the names of the stories, it’s very striking. Here’s hoping we see these coins in circulation. The £5 might be one of those hit and miss coins. I personally quite like the design and the intricacies of all the different elements representing the changing state of Britain during Victoria’s reign, but I appreciate that there is a lot to try and fit in. It looks like 2019 is going to be an exciting year for sure!



    • Steve on January 3, 2019 at 5:59 pm

      Great news that the Britannia 50p is a strike your down coin. I have my experience booked for Sunday 6 Jan. I will be getting 2 x 50p coins.



      • Rachel Hooper on January 4, 2019 at 9:50 am

        Enjoy Steve!



  7. phil braid on January 1, 2019 at 8:39 pm

    why does it take so long for coins to enter circulation
    still waiting to see last years issues
    im styill looking for 2017 5 and 10 pence



    • Rachel Hooper on January 2, 2019 at 8:42 am

      This all demands on the demand from cash centres and post offices and so unfortunately some coins with a lower demand do take longer to enter circulation.



  8. Mervyn Hood on January 1, 2019 at 2:04 pm

    Happy New Year to All at Change Checker, Westminster Collection & 288 Group,

    Thank you very much, the video was quite informative but I felt it was too short for the following reason:-
    I know some of the following coins have been mentioned before and also that you may not have physical coins to show but I cannot understand why you have not mentioned the 10 X 50 pence coins that are being re-issued (inc. Kew Gardens), the second in the £2 series of Captain Cook’s voyage of discovery, the next in the series of Queen’s Beasts (always allowing for the fact that it/they may not have been announced as yet {I believe it should be The Yale Of Beaufort}) and a couple of series which you don’t normally deal with including Buckingham Palace in the Landmarks Of Britain series (already issued and on its’ way to me) and the Year Of The Pig in the Lunar series (already in my possession). These are all £2 face value coins. You could still have advertised the 2019 Commemorative Coin Set afterwards and possibly opened up the hobby of UK coin collecting even more. The fact that some may be regarded as “bullion” (and this also includes the Britannia series which I did not mention as the design does not change regularly) is irrelevant as the £5 series, although “legal tender” like all the rest, is only issued as a commemorative collectors’ coin – just the same as bullion coins are for collectors, whether it be as a series of coins or as an investment. Personally I collect them as series of coins, owning just one of each variation in the main. The extra length of the video would not have mattered as these coins could even been described as a further “pack” after the Coin Set was announced/advertised.
    BTW I have still NOT seen an A – Z 10p coin in my change!! This despite shopping, using cash, at least four times per week and often not using the loose change in my pocket in the hope of receiving more 10p pieces. I wish I could reserve a “first strike” collection then I could save up for it (I am a pensioner on a very limited income, especially when you look at all the coins I collect).
    Sorry to start the New Year with a “gripe”, so to speak, but I hope that you list these coins in the Change Checker collections IN THEIR ORDER OF ISSUE and NOT in the order of announcement, or however it is that you listed them last year. What it meant was that I had to re-arrange all the coins in my albums to accommodate the new issues i.e.: move everything along one space to let the newly issued coin in so that it matched your collection order of coins. PLEASE, on behalf of myself (and probably the vast majority of other collectors who follow you), simply add any newly ISSUED (as opposed to announced) coins to THE END of those already listed and NOT inserted part of the way back. Thank you very much for your time in reading this epistle and for everything you do for us collectors throughout the years.
    Very Best Regards,
    Mervyn.



  9. Michael Miles on January 1, 2019 at 11:43 am

    Good morning and a Happy New Year to you all , can I buy just the 50p coins because I only collect 50p’s



  10. Rodney on January 1, 2019 at 9:15 am

    These are not ALL the designs for 2019. There is due to be a second in the Captain Cook series; it has been suggested that there will be a Gruffalo 50p coin, and in an earlier post you said that many of the previous designs for the 50p coin will be repeated to mark the 50th anniversary of the 50p coin; and I DOUBT very much that the royal mint will only do one £5 coin in 2019. There will be at least six. I think “first set of” rather than “all” (above) would be a fairer description.



    • Rachel Hooper on January 2, 2019 at 8:56 am

      Hi Rodney, more designs will be issued in 2019 such as the Gruffalo 50p and the re-issued 50ps, however this is the 2019 Commemorative Set which has just been released by The Royal Mint with a set of the new commemorative coins which can be purchased together before their individual releases later in the year.



  11. Michael on January 1, 2019 at 2:34 am

    Don’t like any of these, what happened to the gruffalo 50p…won’t stop me buying them tho…?



    • Rachel Hooper on January 2, 2019 at 8:53 am

      Hi Michael, more designs will also be released throughout the year such as the Gruffalo 50p and the re-issued 50ps, however this is the commemorative 2019 set which has just been announced.