£5: Millennium

Years of issue:

1999, 2000

Coin Information:

As the 2000th Anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ approached, many countries made plans to celebrate with issues of coins, despite the controversy of the actual date of the millennium. While purists argued in favour of 1st January 2001 as the first day of the new millennium, the Royal Mint (in common with many other mints around the world) took the view that 1st January 2000 would be a more appropriate date. The reverse design shows a clock face with the minute hand approaching midnight on 31st December between the dated 1999 and 2000. The background features a map of the British Isles with the minute hand running through Greenwich meridian.
Edge Inscription: WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE

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