Posts Tagged ‘Olympics’
£5 Coins – My top 5 designs
The UK £5 coin is legal tender, but you won’t ever find one in your change. They were first issued in 1990 and are usually reserved for commemorating Royal occasions. But many others also commemorate significant British anniversaries, and they are a favourite among collectors because of their interesting and powerful designs. I’ve picked out my top five here.
The Millennium £5 with Millennium Dome mintmark
In the build up to the New Year’s Eve in 1999 these coins were widely given as a souvenir of the historic moment we shared when the clock ticked over into the new millennium. Jeffrey Matthews captured this perfectly with his clock hands passing through Greenwich, positioned at midnight. A limited number of these £5 coins were struck at the Millennium Dome and bear a small Dome mintmark (circled). You can count yourself lucky if you’ve got one of these rarer and more valuable versions!
Trafalgar £5 featuring HMS Victory
One of the greatest landmarks in British history, the Battle of Trafalgar was fought on 21st October 1805. The Royal Mint marked the bicentenary with two £5 coins. The first of these designs by Clive Duncan, shows Nelson’s flagship Victory leading the fleet into battle. HMS Victory is in service to this day as the flagship of the Commander-In-Chief, moored in Portsmouth dockyard.
Entente Cordiale £5
The Entente Cordiale was a series of agreements between Brtiain and France which ended nearly a millennium of intermittent conflict between the two countries. To mark the centenary in 2004 the Royal Mint released this commemorative £5 coin. The reverse design by David Gentleman features an unusual and striking combined image of Britannia and her French counterpart, Marianne, to symbolise the bond between Britain and France.
Restoration of the Monarchy £5
2010 Restoration of the Monarchy £5
In 1649, following the English Civil War and the subsequent execution of Charles I, the British monarchy was abolished and the kingdom became a republic with a new government presiding – the ‘Protectorate’ – led by Oliver Cromwell. This £5 coin issued in 2010 marks the 350th anniversary of the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660. The reverse design features a simplified version of Charles’ crown with the inclusion of oak leaves. Amidst the oak leaves the coin also features a rose and thistles representing England and Scotland respectively.
The Official Olympic £5
This is the Official Olympic £5 coin issued for London 2012, and aside from being a piece of Olympic memorabilia, what sets it apart from other £5 coins is that it was designed by a member of the public. The design was chosen as part of the Royal Mint’s nationwide competition open to art and design students in higher education. Saiman Miah’s creative idea features the iconic buildings of the London skyline and the River Thames within a central circle. The outer ring features pictograms in the style of a clock face, representing various sports at the London 2012 Games.
How many have you got in your collection?
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Which Olympic 50p is really the rarest?
The Olympic sports 50p series was a revelation in coin collecting – for many it represents the start of their interest in UK circulation coins and thousands rose to the challenge of finding them all from their change.
But the mintage of each coin in the 29-piece collection is different, and so the likelihood of finding one varies accordingly. Football narrowly holds the title of the rarest sport in the series, but there were still over one million of those struck for circulation. A coin with such a high mintage can hardly be considered as “rare”. For that honourable title, we must look beyond the official Royal Mint circulation figures…
The original Aquatics Olympic 50p
In September last year, we reported on an Aquatics 50p which sold on eBay for £820. As you might suspect, it wasn’t an ordinary Olympic 50p which we would typically pull out of our change – it has a very specific minting ‘error’.
The design was modified to make the swimmer more visible.
The Aquatics 50p which we are familiar with today is actually a modified version which removed the waves passing over the swimmer’s face. However, a small number of the original design were produced before being modified, although this quantity remains a mystery.
What we do know is that it is not unusual for these special coins to exchange hands for close to £1,000 – not a bad return on a 50 pence coin!
The 2009 Athletics Olympic 50p
Only 100,000 Presentation Packs were issued
In 2009, nine-year old Florence Jackson became the youngest person to design a coin for circulation in the UK. Her Athletics Olympic 50p design was the ultimate winner of a Blue Peter competition and her creation featuring an athlete midway through a high-jump can be now be found in our change up and down the country.
You probably recognise the coin, but what you may not know is that a rare version of this coin exists. When the competition winner was revealed, a special edition Blue Peter presentation pack was issued with a 2009 dated coin, making it the only Olympic 50p without a 2011 date. Just 100,000 of these packs were issued, meaning it is more than twice as rare as the famous Kew Gardens 50p.
A gold version of each design was presented to the respective artist
The winner’s gold editions
But rarest of all are the gold versions of each 50p which were presented to their respective winning designers. Only one of each design exists. You certainly won’t find one of those in your change, and they will be quite literally gold dust for years to come.
Aside from their precious metal content, their unique status and significance rank them as potentially the most valuable UK 50p coins in existence.
Are you interested in owning any of the Olympic 50ps? We have a limited number available in the Change Checker Shop. Click on a sport below to add it to your collection. All available with FREE P&P
Aquatics Archery Athletics Badminton Basketball Boccia Boxing
Canoeing Football Goalball Gymnastics Handball Hockey Pentathlon
Rowing Sailing Shooting Table Tennis Taekwondo Tennis Volleyball
A guide to collecting the UK’s rarest circulating coins
After the interest in last week’s charts, I thought I would go into a little more detail about the coins which came out on top – because when it comes to collecting, there is one fact which is always inevitable – the rarest coins are always in highest demand.
So which coins in your pocket are the rare ones?
- Fifty Pence coins
The Kew Gardens 50p is the rarest coin in circulation
Where else to start but the Kew Gardens 50p? As any change checker knows, it is the rarest coin currently in circulation, with just 210,000 struck. To put that in perspective – the next scarcest designs are the 2003 Suffragettes and 2011 WWF 50ps respectively with a mintage of just over 3 million apiece. The famous Chinese Pagoda of the gardens features on the reverse of the coin and is definitely worth looking for in your change. It remains the Holy Grail of circulation coins eluding even the keenest of collectors.
- Olympic Fifty Pence series
The ‘Offside Rule’ Football design is the rarest in the Olympic 50p series
In celebration of London 2012, the Royal Mint issued a series of 29 different 50p designs – each representing a sport from either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. They have gone on to become some of the most highly sought-after coins and are still frequently hoarded from circulation. The ‘Offside rule’ Football 50p had everyone talking about its innovative design, but it also holds the title of the Olympic 50p with the lowest mintage. Only 1,125,500 were struck, which is marginally more than the Triathlon and Judo designs which are the next rarest in the series.
- One Pound coins
The Edinburgh design is the £1 with the lowest mintage
The £1 coin has not traditionally been a place for one-off commemorative designs, but themes have followed a similar pattern over the years, with the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom being represented in cycles. In recent years, the mintage of commemorative £1 coins has dropped off considerably, and the capital cities series is currently the most scarce. The 2011 Edinburgh design is the only £1 coin with a mintage below 1 million and the Cardiff and London issues follow closely behind. By way of comparison, there were over 443 million Royal Arms Shield £1 coins issued in 1983 alone.
- Two Pound coins
The 2002 Commonwealth Games N.Ireland is the rarest £2 in circulation, but it can be tricky to spot!
The 2002 Commonwealth Games £2 designs are notoriously difficult to find. There are four different versions, all similar, but with a different flag to represent each of the four constituent countries of the UK. You’ll need to look very closely at each flag to know which version you’ve got. The Northern Ireland design is the rarest £2 coin in circulation – only 485,500 were struck. The other three in the series are similarly scarce, so finding any Commonwealth Games £2 in your change is an achievement! Other £2 coins worthy of note include the three Olympic-themed designs; 2008 Handover, 2008 Centenary and 2012 Handover which also have mintages of less than one million.
So the next time you’re flicking through your coins, remember – all coins are not created equal! There are some you should count yourself lucky to have, and if you come across any of the rare coins mentioned in this post – it might just be worth hanging on to them!
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