Posts Tagged ‘2020 coins’
Brand new UK VE Day £2 Released!
Victory in Europe Day – more commonly known as VE Day – is celebrated across Europe and America as the official end of the Second World War.
Following the Allies’ acceptance of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender on the 8th May 1945, the war had finally come to a close after a long five years.
This year marks a particularly poignant anniversary as we celebrate 75 years since VE Day. Many celebrations had been scheduled to mark this joyous occasion, including rescheduling the Early May Bank Holiday to the 8th.
Although, sadly, many of these celebrations have now been cancelled this does not detract from the significance of this historic anniversary.
To mark this momentous occasion, The Royal Mint have issued a brand new £2 coin, commemorating 75 years since VE Day.
So, we thought we’d take this opportunity to look a closer look at this brand new £2 and the other UK coins which tell the story of Britain’s warfare history.
2020 Victory in Europe £2
Issued by The Royal Mint, the brand new 2020 VE Day £2 features a woman holding a newspaper aloft in a crowd of celebrating people, set against a backdrop of the word VICTORY.
The edge inscription reads ‘JUST TRIUMPH AND PROUD SORROW’.
The coin, designed by Dominuqe Evans, has been available as part of the 2020 Annual Coin set since January, however has just been released for individual sale.
The unique design and poignant anniversary year makes us think this brand new release is certain to be popular with collectors, so if you want to get your hands on one, just click here.
1995 Dove £2
This old-style £2 was issued in 1995 to mark 50 years since the end of the Second World War.
(Pre-1997 specifcations)
The reverse design, by John Mills, features a dove as a symbol of peace since the end of the war. The edge inscription reads ‘1945 IN PEACE GOODWILL 1995’, highlighting fifty years since the truce.
One of only seven commemorative £2 coins to be issued in the older specifications before the change in 1997, the Dove £2 has a mintage of 4,394,566 – the third highest of the seven.
2005 St. Paul’s Cathedral £2
In 2005, The Royal Mint issued a second £2 in the new bi-metallic specifications to commemorate 60 years since the end of the war.
Interestingly, the reverse design depicts St. Paul’s Cathedral. This is because the cathedral was one of only a few structures which survived the Blitz to become a great symbol of hope to a war-torn nation.
The edge inscription reads ‘IN VICTORY: MAGNAMITY, IN PEACE: GOODWILL’ which is part of the famous maxim that prefaces Churchill’s history of the Second World War.
This coin has a staggeringly high mintage of 10,191,000, meaning it ranks as ‘Common’ on the Change Checker Scarcity Index.
2015 Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was an intense air battle fought mainly throughout the summer of 1940 between Germany and Britain.
To commemorate 75 years since the great battle, The Royal Mint issued a commemorative 50p.
Designed by sculptor Gary Breeze, this coin quickly gained interest from collectors due to the three different obverses when it was initially minted. You can find out more about that here.
This coin was also re-issued in 2019 as part of the 50th Anniversary of the 50p celebrations in the Military History 50p Collection.
2019 D-Day £2
Last year, The Royal Mint issued a £2 coin commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history.
The invasion took place on the 6th June 1944 and began the liberation of German occupied France and laid the foundations for the Allied Victory.
Initially issued as part of the 2019 Annual Coin Set, the D-Day £2 was favoured among collectors last year for its innovative design by Stephen Taylor.
The reverse features arrows pointing across the English Channel to Normandy; each arrow has one of the five code-names for the beaches where Allied Troops landed: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
Released last year, this £2 coin has not entered general circulation yet.
And there we have it! It’s fair to say the UK has a great history of celebrating important warfare anniversaries on our coinage, and they certainly are popular with our collectors!
Do you have a favourite warfare anniversary coin? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure the BRAND NEW UK VE Day £2 Coin
Vote for your favourite 2020 Annual Set coin!
The 2020 Annual Coin Set was officially released yesterday and we can’t wait to hear which coin Change Checkers will vote as their favourite!
Have your say by voting in the poll below:
Keep your eyes peeled as we’ll be revealing the winning coin soon!
*** UPDATE ***
The results are now in, and I’m pleased to announce that the Team GB 50p has been voted by Change Checkers are their favourite 2020 Annual Coin!
Did you vote for this coin? Let us know in the comments below!
Own the 2020 Commemorative Coin Set
If you can’t wait to get hold of these coins, be one of the first to own the complete set!
First look: New Royal Mint coin designs for 2020!
Happy New Year and Happy New Coins Change Checkers!
We can’t wait to reveal to you the new 2020 coin designs and I’m sure you’ll agree that there are some really fantastic coins to look forward to.
So let’s kick off the year with the coins we’ve all been waiting for, the 2020 Annual Set…
Team GB
We all love a 50p, and in this year’s Annual Coin Set The Royal Mint have issued a brand new 50p coin to support Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Designed by David Knapton, the 2020 Team GB 50p features symbols depicting individual Olympic sports accompanied by the Olympic Rings, the Team GB logo, the inscription ‘TEAM GB’ and the date ‘2020’.
The Olympics are an undeniably popular subject and for many the 2012 Olympic 50p series marked the start of their passion for change collecting.
In 2016 a Team GB 50p was issued to support Great Britain’s efforts in Rio and this was thought of by many as the 30th Olympic 50p, but with a new 2020 Team GB coin now being issued, could this be the 31st Olympic 50p?
We certainly love the design and I’m sure Change Checkers will think it’s a real winner too!
2020 Agatha Christie £2
English detective novelist Agatha Christie published her first novel, ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ in 1920 and now, 100 years later, a £2 coin has been issued to commemorate her work.
Her 1920 novel introduced one of Britain’s best-loved detectives Hercule Poirot, who became a long-running character in Christie’s work, featuring in 33 novels and 54 short stories!
This coin has been designed by David Lawrence and features a nearly completed jigsaw puzzle with the final piece ready to be inserted, and the inscription ‘1920 100 YEARS OF MYSTERY 2020′.
Following the popularity of UK coins celebrating great British writers, such as the Jane Austen £2, Sherlock Holmes 50p, Charles Dickens £2, the Beatrix Potter 50ps and more, we’re sure that this new coin is bound to prove a real hit with collectors.
2020 75th Anniversary of VE Day £2
The next coin in the 2020 Annual Set marks an incredibly poignant anniversary, commemorating 75 years since VE Day and the end of the Second World War.
Victory Day in Europe celebrates the Allies of World War II formally accepting Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces on the 8th May 1945, marking the end of the war.
Dominique Evans‘ design features a woman holding a newspaper aloft in crowd of celebrating people, set against a backdrop of the word VICTORY.
The edge inscription reads ‘JUST TRIUMPH AND PROUD SORROW’ which is incredibly fitting for a coin which marks such a pivotal moment in British history.
2020 Mayflower £2
2020 marks the 400th anniversary of The Mayflower’s voyage from Plymouth, England to the ‘New World’ in 1620.
This voyage saw over 100 Pilgrims and around 30 crew spend two treacherous months at sea, battling against the North Atlantic wind as they journeyed to America to establish the first permanent New England colony by signing the Mayflower Compact.
Designed by Chris Costello, the Mayflower £2 shows the ship upon a rough sea, with a guiding star in the night sky and the edge inscription ‘Undertaken for the glory of God’.
Excitingly for collectors, this is not the first time that The Mayflower has appeared on a £2 coin, as a similar design actually featured on the 1994 trial piece, which often sells for well into three figures on the secondary market!
2020 George III £5
This year marks the 200th anniversary since the death of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland.
George’s life and reign were longer than any British monarch before him, although due to his deteriorating health during the last 10 years of his life, his eldest son George IV ruled as Prince Regent.
To celebrate the life of George III, The Royal Mint have issued a new £5 coin designed by Dominique Evans.
The coin features the portrait of King George III in a crowned cartouche at the centre of the coin, with his Royal Cypher below, floral emblems of the United Kingdom and scenes associated with his life from Windsor Castle and the Kew Observatory.
The announcement of the new annual coins is always an exciting moment for Change Checkers, particularly when the anniversaries are as significant as these.
Do you have a favourite coin from the set? Let us know in the comments below!
Own the 2020 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!