UK coins
Change Checker LIVE 50p Swap! Join us at Duxford Summer Air Show
We’re extremely excited to announce that we’re bringing our Change Checker Live 50p Swap to Duxford for their D-Day 80 Summer Air Show!
Join us on Saturday 1st June and Sunday 2nd June at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, where we’ll be giving collectors the chance to swap ANY UK 50p coin for the brand new 2024 UK D-Day 50p.
The 2024 UK D-Day 50p has been issued to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and the design was created in collaboration with Imperial War Museums – so it’s only fitting that we take it along to swap at the special D-Day 80 Duxford Summer Air Show!
Our Brilliant Uncirculated UK 50ps usually retail for £5.99 plus postage, so this is a chance to get your hands on one in superior collector quality for just face value!
Duxford Air Show
Since the inaugural Duxford Air Day in 1973, IVM Duxford has hosted countless spectacular air shows, inviting attendees to see the world’s aviation legends first-hand and immerse themselves in Duxford’s rich history.
Last year, nearly 34,000 people attended Duxford’s Battle of Britain Air Show as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, and with 2024 marking 80 years since D-Day, a huge turnout is expected again this year!
Credit: Alan Wilson, via Wikimedia Commons
FAQs
How do I buy tickets to the event?
You can buy tickets on the IVM website here >>
How do I get there?
Visitor travel details can be found on the IVM Duxford website here >>
Where can I find you at the event?
Once our exact position has been confirmed, we’ll update this blog and post an update on social media once we’re all set up.
How many coins can I swap?
Such is the popularity of our Live Coin Swaps, and to ensure it’s fair for everybody, we’re limiting the number of swaps to strictly 1 per person.
Can I reserve a coin before I arrive?
To ensure a fair swap event for everyone, we do not offer reservations of coins. It is a strictly first come first served basis.
Can’t make it?
If you can’t make it to our swap at Duxford Air Show, don’t worry! You can still add the 2024 UK D-Day 50p to your collection in superior collection quality.
A History of Queen Elizabeth II on Coins
From the post boxes on the street to the change in our pockets, each day we are reminded of our late monarch – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022).
And, with 29 billion individual coins in circulation in the UK – the majority of which carry an image of Her Majesty – her likeness will forever be etched in our memories and passed down for generations on our coinage.
These very coins offer a window into the past and retell the history of Her Majesty’s 70 year reign through the changing portraits seen on our coinage.
Portraits of the Queen
The Young Queen | 1953 – 67: Mary Gillick
The first coins of Queen Elizabeth’s reign featured Mary Gillick’s portrait of the young Queen, created especially for the new coins in 1953.
The “Decimal Queen” | 1968 – 84: Arnold Machin RA
With the decimalisation of the UK’s coinage on the horizon, it was decided to refresh the Queen’s portrait with Arnold Machin’s new effigy of the Queen. Commissioned in 1964, it first appeared in 1968 on the new 5p and 10p coins.
The Grandmother | 1985 – 97: Raphael Maklouf
Raphael Maklouf aimed “to create a symbol, regal and ageless” when he created the new effigy of Her Majesty. This coincided with the Queen’s early years as a grandmother and depicts Queen Elizabeth II wearing the royal diadem worn on the way to and from the State Opening of Parliament.
Millennium Queen | 1998 – 2014: Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS
As the Millennium approached, a fourth effigy was released onto our coinage, designed by Ian Rank-Broadley. Its larger size filled the full circle of the coin and was a deliberate response to the smaller 5p and 10p coins in circulation. This more mature portrayal of Her Majesty aimed to show the Queen with “poise and bearing”.
The Longest Reigning Monarch | 2015 – 2022: Jody Clark
The final portrait of Her Majesty was introduced in 2015 – the year that the Queen passed Victoria as our longest reigning monarch. It is, of course, that design that will continue to remind us of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for years to come, as her old currency continues to circulate long after her death.
Special Obverse Designs
Not only will the Queen be remembered for her portraits on coins, but for two very special obverse designs.
The first dates back to the very first coin released for Queen Elizabeth II – her Coronation Crown in 1953. The second was from the 2022 Platinum Jubilee coins.
Both picture the Queen on horseback, celebrating Her Majesty with her greatest love – horses. Surely there can be no better way to remember Her Majesty than through these two great designs. If you’re lucky enough to have either in your collection, let us know in the comments below!
Do you have a favourite coin portrait or obverse design on Her Majesty? Leave a comment to share yours.
Commemorate Her Majesty on Coins
As you can imagine, demand for QE II coinage is at an all-time high.
Don’t miss the chance to fill the gaps in your royalty coin collection here >>
To collect, or not to collect…the Shakespeare £2 coins!
The answer, of course, is to collect!
Seasoned collectors will know that the 2016 Shakespeare £2 coins are some of the most popular coins in circulation. This isn’t only because they celebrate the most influential literary figure in British history, but because of their intriguing designs and interesting mintage figures.
The Shakespeare £2 coins were issued in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of playwright, poet and actor, William Shakespeare. Each of the 3 coins honours a different genre of Shakespeare’s works – tragedies, comedies and histories.
Tragedies
The Shakespeare Tragedies £2 is inspired by Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. The design, by John Bergdahl, features a skull from the iconic scene in Hamlet where the Prince speaks to the skull of dead court jester, Yorick, lamenting over the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. Next to the skull is a rose, representing Romeo and Juliet.
The edge inscription even reads ‘WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS A MAN’ – the start of a well know quote from Hamlet.
Histories
This coin pays tribute to Shakespeare’s historical plays. It carries the edge inscription ‘THE HOLLOW CROWN’ and features a crown and dagger design. The crown represents the seven different kings who were titular characters in Shakespeare’s historical plays, and the sword is a symbols of the battles and wars that took place in many of these stories.
Comedies
The Comedies £2 features a design of a cap and bells with a Jester’s stick, taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s most famous comedy play – A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
It features the edge inscription ‘ALL THE WORLDS A STAGE’, a quote from As You Like It.
Did you know?
When these coins first entered circulation back in 2016, they were stocked in the tills at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Hamlet was being performed at the time.
Mintage Figures
On entering circulation in 2016, mintage figures were released, revealing the Shakespeare Comedies £2 as the rarest of the 3 coins with only 4,355,000 entering circulation. Original figures released were as follows:
- Shakespeare Histories: 4,615,000
- Shakespeare Tragedies: 5,995,000
- Shakespeare Comedies: 4,355,000
However this would change 3 years later in 2019 when the mintages of the Histories £2 and the Tragedies £2 were corrected. Although the Comedies £2 remained the rarest of the 3, it turns out the mintage of the Tragedies £2 was lower than originally stated.
The corrected mintage figures for the 2016 Shakespeare £2 coins are as follows:
- Shakespeare Histories: 5,655,000
- Shakespeare Tragedies: 4,615,000
- Shakespeare Comedies: 4,355,000
As you can see from the £2 mintage figure chart below, both the Comedies and Tragedies are in the top 30 rarest coins in circulation (based solely on mintage figures).
Do you have any Shakespeare £2 coins in your collection? Let us know in the comments!
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