Celebrate over 250 years of Royal History with the Buckingham Palace £5

When visiting London, there’s one place that’s most likely to be on everyone’s sightseeing list…Buckingham Palace! And as one of the most recognisable buildings in the world, it’s only fitting that it now features on a UK £5 coin!

2024 UK Buckingham Palace £5
2024 UK Buckingham Palace £5

A design fit for a King…or Queen!

The 2024 UK Buckingham Palace £5 was first issued in January as part of the 2024 Annual Coin Set, but it’s now been individually released!

The design on this new £5, by Henry Gray, pays tribute to the building that carries so much history, with a beautifully detailed depiction of the front of Buckingham Palace. If you look closely, you’ll see the Royal Standard flying, which signifies the presence of a British Monarch, and the whole design is encircled in a floral ring, tying in with the King’s love of nature.

The Royal Standard can be seen flying atop the Palace
The Royal Standard can be seen flying atop the Palace

The History of the Palace

Buckingham Palace has been in the Royal Family since 1761, when George III bought it as Buckingham House for his wife, Queen Charlotte, to use as their family home. It wasn’t until 1826 that George IV transformed the house into a palace, however the project took much longer and cost much more than expected and was finished by his successor William IV, although he never actually moved in.

Illustration of Buckingham House
Illustration of Buckingham House
Public Domain

Queen Victoria was the first monarch to take up residence in Buckingham Palace in 1837, and it remained the royal residence and place of official business until the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. It now serves as King Charles III’s administrative headquarters, although he doesn’t live there.

Many a state visit and national celebration have taken place at the Palace, most recently the King’s Coronation celebrations and Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. It also facilitated significant moments in history, such as the signing of The London Declaration in 1949 that created the Commonwealth as we know it today.

Buckingham Palace in 2009
Buckingham Palace in 2009
Credit: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know…Buckingham Palace boasts 775 rooms, a cinema, swimming pool, post office, police station, a doctor’s clinic and a cash machine! It also has the largest private garden in London, covering 42 acres and including a helipad, a lake and tennis courts!

Secure your Buckingham Palace £5

With its rich history, it’s surprising that this is the first time that Buckingham Palace has ever featured on a UK £5 coin. What’s not surprising though, is that the Buckingham Palace £5 was voted your second favourite coin design from the 2024 Annual Set.

This is your chance to hold more than 250 years of royal history in your hands, so click here to secure your 2024 UK Buckingham Palace £5 for just £13.99 (+p&p) >>

A History of Britannia on UK Coinage

The allegorical figure of Britannia has had a presence on our coins from as early as the Roman era, to as recently as the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Let’s take a closer look into the history of Britannia on our coinage, and why some coins she features on may be worth keeping an eye on! 

A collection of UK coins featuring Britannia
A collection of UK coins featuring Britannia

Britannia’s debut on coins

Britannia is a fictional representation of Britain itself, and first appeared on our coins in Roman times.

This original interpretation of her can be seen wielding a spear and a shield on the rocks, and was created during the reign of Emperor Hadrian all the way back in 119 AD. She remained on Roman coins for some time, but later vanished from our coinage for 1,532 years!

Roman coins featuring Britannia
Roman coins featuring Britannia

A millennium later

In 1672, King Charles II brought Britannia back to lift the nations’ spirits. Seen over the waves, she keeps a spear in one hand, but this time holds an olive sprig in the other, as a symbol of peace. The shield remains, perched at her side, but it’s now embellished with the union flag.

1672 Farthing Reverse
Credit: Numista

At this point in time, the work of the navy was especially crucial in securing power, trade and success, and Britannia’s image became an emblem of Britain’s maritime prowess. This was further cemented by iterations of Britannia from 1797 onwards showing her with a trident in her left hand instead of a spear.

1797 Penny Reverse
Credit: The Royal Mint Museum

Her portrait changed once again in 1825, where she can be seen facing the opposite way, with the addition of a Roman helmet, a nod to her origins on Roman coins

1825 1/2 Penny Reverse
Credit: Numista

Many monarchs featured Britannia consistently on their coinage after her reintroduction in 1672 until 1971, mostly on bronze or copper coins. In 1987, her likeness was even used for gold bullion coins by the Royal Mint.

Britannia on UK decimal coins

Since it’s decimal introduction in 1969, Britannia could be found on definitive 50p coins all the way up to 2008, when her portrait was replaced by the Royal Shield design. This change caused an uproar within the coin collecting community and beyond, and even lead to a petition, as many felt she should remain on our 50p coin. 

1969 Britannia 50p
1969 Britannia 50p

After a small break from circulating coinage, Britannia made a triumphant return as the face of the definitive £2 coin which was released in 2015. 

2016 Britannia £2
2016 Britannia £2

The rarest definitive £2

This coin would go on to become the rarest definitive £2 coin to date, with the 2015 Britannia £2 coin securing a mintage of only 650,000! But why were so few minted?

Well both Technology and Britannia designs entered circulation in 2015, and with a massive 35,360,058 Technologies minted, there wasn’t the demand for a large amount of Britannias. The following year, only 2,925,000 Britannia £2s were minted, but after that, we didn’t see any new ones in our change until 2021 and 2022.

2015 Britannia £2
The 2015 Britannia £2 has a mintage figure of just 650,000

According to our most recent eBay Tracker, a 2015 dated Britannia £2 can fetch you as much as £6.24 on the secondary market, that’s over x3 its face value!  

There is also an error version of this coin you can look out for, where the portrait on the obverse of the coin is misaligned by a 150 degree angle! 

The 2015 £2 isn’t the only rare coin to feature Britannia however – as the 2008 Britannia 50p has a mintage of just 3,500,000 – which is far less than previous years! The mintage was so low in fact, that it brought down the average of the Britannia 50p as a whole, causing it to become ‘Less common’ on our Scarcity Index. 

Will we see Britannia again?

Do you have any coins featuring Britannia in your collection? Perhaps you even have one of the rare or error versions of these coins, comment below!

This year, we can expect to see the new King Charles III definitive £2 entering circulation, so I wonder if we’ll see Britannia again on our circulating coins? Let us know what you think…


Sign up to our BU Coin subscription service to make sure you never miss a UK coin issue! Sign up >>

A Legendary New Coin – The Maid Marian £5

They say behind every great man is a great woman…and that’s true for the Myths and Legends series, as the Robin Hood £5 is followed by the 2024 Maid Marian £5!

2024 UK Maid Marian £5
2024 UK Maid Marian £5

A striking design

The reverse design, by Jody Clark, shows the heroine framed amongst the foliage of Sherwood Forest, with native English foliage including oak leaves and ferns encroaching from the edge of the coin. Marian was known to be a skilful archer, and so she’s pictured with her bow and arrow upon her back.

When talking about his design on the Maid Marian £5, Jody Clark said ‘I wanted to show the connections between each legendary outlaw’s persona and the forest, which serves as both a sanctuary and a strategic ally’.

2024 UK Maid Marian £5 Reverse and Obverse
2024 UK Maid Marian £5 Reverse and Obverse

To highlight the dynamic design, your 2024 UK Maid Marian £5 has been struck to a Brilliant Uncirculated quality – the standard favoured among collectors.

Who is Maid Marian?

Maid Marian didn’t actually feature in any early, medieval versions of the Robin Hood legend, but began to appear in plays and stories in the 1600s. However, despite being a late-comer to the story, Marian has become a very important part of the Robin Hood legend.

Illustration of Maid Marian from Wood 401(21)
Illustration of Maid Marian from Wood 401(21)
Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Known as Robin Hood’s one true love, English folklore depicts Maid Marian as courageous and independent as well as beautiful and loyal. It’s thought that her name was derived from her refusal to marry until Robin Hood and his merry men had received a King’s pardon, as before the 17th century, unmarried women were called maids.

Maid Marian has been portrayed in countless plays, movies, TV shows and other media, usually in human form, but some of you may remember Marian best as Hood’s foxy love interest in the 1973 Disney film ‘Robin Hood’.

Previously in the Myths and Legends series…

The 2024 Maid Marian £5 coin follows on from the Robin Hood £5, however the first three coins in the series focused on Arthurian Legends. The series kicked off with King Arthur, followed by mythical wizard Merlin and the Arthurian Legends collection concluded with shapeshifter and witch, Morgan Le Fay.

2024 Robin Hood £5
Arthurian Legends £5 coins 
King Arthur, Merlin and Morgan le Fay
Arthurian Legends £5 coins
King Arthur, Merlin and Morgan le Fay

Continue your Myths and Legends collection

Secure your 2024 UK Maid Marian £5 for just £13.99 (+p&p) >>