Posts Tagged ‘50p Coin’
National Storytelling Week – stories told through coins!
Today marks the start of National Storytelling Week, which is celebrated in February each year. It’s a great chance for people to share their own stories and listen to the stories told by others.
As part of the celebrations, we’ve taken a look at some UK coins that celebrate some of the very best storytellers.
William Shakespeare
One of the greatest storytellers and playwrights of all time, William Shakespeare, shot to fame during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages of British theatre.
He wrote 38 plays, 2 narrative poems, 154 sonnets and a variety of other pieces!
In 2016 to commemorate the 400th anniversary since his death, The Royal Mint issued a three-coin series, each taking inspiration from a theme of Shakespeare’s plays.
This coin’s design was inspired by Shakespeare’s history plays, with an edge inscription that reads: “The Hollow Crown”, from his play “Richard II”.
The other £2 coins take inspiration from his Tragedies, with an inscription taken from Hamlet, and his comedies with this coin’s inscription reading ‘All the world’s a stage’ from As You Like It.
Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter’s enchanting tales of countryside characters, including Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle skyrocketed her to stardom. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902 and it instantly became a best-seller!
And it was in 2016 that Peter Rabbit escaped from Mr. McGregor’s Garden and made his first debut on United Kingdom coinage.
Issued to celebrate 150 years since the birth of renowned Children’s author, Beatrix Potter, this 50p changed coin collecting forever.
This series of coins continued into 2017, 2018 and 2019. Fifteen Beatrix Potter coins have now been issued since 2016, each featuring one of Potter’s delightful characters, from Flopsy Bunny to Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
The title of the rarest of the Beatrix Potter 50p actually belongs to two coins! The 2018 Peter Rabbit and 2018 Flopsy Bunny both have a mintage of just 1.4 million!
Charles Dickens
A list of great story tellers wouldn’t be complete without Charles Dickens!
Dickens’ enchanting stories, vivid characters, and depiction of Victorian life are widely acknowledged across the world by critics and scholars alike and his novels and short stories continue to be widely popular to this day.
The reverse design of this £2 coin by Matthew Dent features Dickens’ recognizable profile crafted from the titles of his most famous works.
This coin had a circulating mintage of 8,190,000 and is one of my personal favourites!
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie’s first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published in 1920 and it kick-started the nation’s love of her detective novels and murder mysteries.
In 2020, to mark 100 years since her first publication, The Royal Mint celebrated the world’s best-selling novelist with this £2 coin.
David Lawrence’s design of this coin pays homage to Christie’s crime novels, with a piece of a jigsaw slotting into place and her signature at the bottom.
The coin also features the edge inscription ‘100 years of mystery 1920’-2020’ to mark this very special anniversary.
Sherlock Holmes 50p
In 2019, to mark 160 years since the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Royal Mint issued this 50p coin.
The prolific writer is best known for his incredibly popular detective stories featuring the fictional Sherlock Holmes™. It is said his works revolutionized the crime genre, and despite Doyle sharing an ambivalent relationship with his famous character, Holmes’ popularity resulted in Doyle becoming one of the best-paid authors of the time.
The reverse has been designed by Stephen Raw and features a silhouette of Sherlock smoking a pipe, surrounded by a few of his most-famous story titles.
Are there any other great storytellers you think should be celebrated on our UK coins? Comment below!
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The UK’s FIRST Royal 50p – The Platinum Jubilee 50p!
The UK’s FIRST Royal 50p was issued in 2022, and it’s got a very special obverse design – NEVER-before-seen on a 50p…
The 2022 UK Platinum Jubilee 50p is arguably the most significant coin of a lifetime, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s incredible 70 years of service to the crown.
2022 UK Platinum Jubilee 50p
2022 saw Her Majesty become the first monarch in British history to reach a Platinum Jubilee, so it’s only fitting that this moment was captured for the very first time on the UK’s most collected coin – the 50p!
And, this UK first also featured new designs on BOTH the reverse and obverse!
Experienced coin artist John Bergdahl created a stunning commemorative Jubilee portrait of Her Majesty on horseback, which is reminiscent of previous jubilee designs, including the 1953 coronation crown!
Created by design agency Osborne Ross, the reverse features the number 70 in a striking centralized design, with the dates 1952 and 2022, beneath The Queen’s royal cypher.
I’m sure you’ll agree that this coin is one of the most exciting issues we’ve ever seen.
We’ve never-before-seen a UK 50p mark such a significant event and it’s only right that the UK’s first royal 50p, should feature such an exciting design.
This was also the first time that we’d ever seen the portrait of Her Majesty on horseback feature on a 50p!
2022 UK Platinum Jubilee £5
As the perfect accompaniment to this stunning 50p, The Royal Mint also issued a UK £5 coin to celebrate Her Majesty’s Jubilee.
Set to rival the collecting frenzy of the Queen’s first Jubilee Crown released in 1977, this release featured a design created especially for collectors.
In 1977, Her Majesty celebrated 25 years on the throne – her Silver Jubilee and the first of her reign. The Royal Mint issued this commemorative crown. The coin’s reverse design is focused upon the Coronation theme and features the Ampulla and anointing spoon from the Royal regalia surrounded by a heraldic floral pattern and the Crown.
The coin’s obverse takes inspiration from the 1953 Coronation Crown, showing a newly designed image of the Queen on horseback.
Unusually, this coin does not feature an edge inscription or date on its reverse, making it the only crown of its kind at the time of issue. It was also one of the last crowns to be issued with a face value of 25 pence (commemorative crowns issued after 1990 have a face value of £5), which makes it continually sought-after among collectors!
Reminiscent of the 1953 Coronation Crown, the 2022 Platinum Jubilee £5 features a special obverse design of the Queen riding on horseback – only found on the individual release of this coin!
The reverse design by John Bergdahl includes the Queen’s garter robes in a fitting tribute to her 70 years upon the throne.
Secure the 2022 UK Platinum Jubilee £5 for your collection >>
Secure the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Coins
The 2022 UK Platinum Jubilee 50p is no longer available individually, however you can still own it in the Platinum Jubilee Pair, which also includes the Platinum Jubilee £5. Get yours here >>
First-ever Royal 50p! What will the mystery 50p obverse look like?
Change Checkers, we’ve got a special royal announcement…
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has confirmed that her Platinum Jubilee in 2022 will be celebrated with the UK’s FIRST-EVER Royal 50p!
* UPDATE *
The design of the UK’s FIRST ROYAL 50p has JUST been revealed by The Royal Mint! With Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee being the first in the history of our British Royal Family, the number 70 takes centre stage on the reverse design of this 50p.
The Royal Cypher EIIR is also shown on the design of this UK first, above the dates 1952-2022, in a poignant tribute to our nation’s longest reigning monarch.
What an outstanding issue this is going to be! We’ve never before seen a 50p mark such a significant event and it’s certainly got us wondering what this amazing 50p will look like! As this will be the FIRST-EVER UK Royal 50p, we’re expecting increased collector interest…
The Royal Proclamation has also raised an additional level of interest, revealing intriguing details of TWO different obverse designs – one featuring the normal Queen’s head design by Jody Clark and a second portraying Her Majesty on horseback, in what appears to be a nod to her original 1953 Coronation Crown.
We’ve only seen this happen once before which was for the Decimal Day 50p issued in the 2021 Annual Coin Set! The 50p from the Annual Set featured the original Arnold Machin portrait which featured on UK coinage during the time of the decimal change-over, on the obverse instead of her modern one.
According to the Proclamation, we’re set to see a number of UK firsts for this coin and we just can’t wait to find out more. It’s only right that the coin issued to mark the first monarch in British history to reach this milestone, should feature a design full of firsts too!
Previous Jubilee coins have proven so popular with collectors but historically these issues have been Crowns and £5 coins. So, I’m certain that the fact the Platinum Jubilee will be the first royal celebration on a UK 50p, it will make this the most popular 50p to date, especially if we can find it in our change!
If you don’t want to miss out on this UK FIRST, which is sure to be popular, make sure you’ve signed up to the Change Checker 50p Subscription Service! You will receive every future UK 50p, delivered to your doorstep, without any of the hassle of ordering the coin yourself!
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