Posts Tagged ‘UK Coins’
A first look at Britain’s New £1 Coin
The announcement of a new 12-sided £1 coin came with George Osborne’s budget last year. Now, prior to his latest budget, the Chancellor has taken to Twitter to give us a glimpse of how the new coin will look.
George Osborne Tweeted this photo of the new £1 coin design
A public competition was launched by the Royal Mint in September 2014 to find the new design, and the winner has now been revealed as fifteen-year-old David Pearce from Walsall.
His design was chosen from over 6,000 entries to the competition, and will first appear in our change when the new £1 coin is issued into circulation in 2017.
In his design, four floral emblems have been used to represent each of the constituent countries of the UK. A rose for England, a leek for Wales, a thistle for Scotland and a shamrock for Ireland.
HM Treasury also tweeted news of the design
It is a concept inspired by a £1 coin series of the past, but a nice symbolic touch in this updated version is the amalgamation of all four emblems into one stem intersecting the Royal crown.
Commenting on the new coin, George Osborne said; “The competition captured the imagination of thousands of people and David Pearce’s winning design will be recognised by millions in the years ahead”.
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Revealed: The Queen’s New Portrait for our Coins
Today at the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Mint unveiled the new definitive portrait of Queen Elizabeth II which will appear on our circulating coinage this year. It is only the fifth portrait to appear on our coins in the Queen’s 62-year reign, and as far as collectors are concerned, events don’t come much bigger than this.
The Queen’s new coin portrait was revealed this morning
The portrait, showing a side profile of the Queen wearing a crown and drop earrings, was created by designer Jody Clark and is the winning entry of a closed competition launched by the Royal Mint late last year. Aged 33 when his design was selected, he is the youngest of the five designers to have created a portrait for Queen Elizabeth II.
Clark’s new effigy marks a brand new chapter in the history of our circulating coinage, and as any collector will tell you, first issues hold a significance and a lasting degree of collectability for years into the future.
We will see the new coins in our change over the coming weeks and months as they begin filtering through the cash centres and banks to begin with. You can be sure that many of these will be going straight into collections as Change Checkers seek to grab them in their freshly struck condition.
What do you think of the new portrait?
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Announcing: The return of Britannia to our coins
An early depiction of Britannia on a George II halfpenny
Earlier in the month, we revealed that Britannia would be making a triumphant return to British circulating coins, and today The Royal Mint have unveiled the new design which we will soon be seeing on the new £2 coin.
Having been something of an institution for British coins for over 300 years, it came as a shock to many that her image was dropped from the 50p in the first place.
A depiction of Britannia on a George III Cartwheel Penny had a nautical theme
The Romans were the first to personify Britain as a noble female warrior, but it was Charles II who introduced Britannia to our coinage in 1672. Her debut appearance was on the Farthing at a time when Britain was engaged in a naval battle with Holland and she came to be a defining symbol of British national spirit – particularly over the seas.
A Queen Victoria Penny featuring Britannia
Britannia’s depiction was originally based on Charles’ mistress, Frances Teresa Stuart, who Samuel Pepys described as “the greatest beauty I ever saw”. She modelled and was subsequently immortalised as the figure which the nation grew to love.
But her image on our coins has evolved and changed many times since then.
Originally shown holding a spear on the 1672 Farthing, on the famous Cartwheel Penny she was adapted to purvey a more nautical look. Her spear was changed to a trident – famously associated with Neptune, the Roman God of the seas. Waves were added to the foreground, with a ship on the horizon, and the Union Flag added to her shield, in a strong display of patriotism.
Britannia was depicted standing for the first time under Edward VII
This depiction of Britannia became a permanent feature on penny coins right up until decimalisation in 1971. Thereafter, she was introduced to the Fifty Pence piece, and remained until 2008 when she was famously replace with the Royal Shield of Arms, despite a Daily Mail campaign trying to save her.
A precious metal Britannia series was struck in silver and gold
Various alternatives of Britannia have existed over the years but it was not until Edward VII’s Florin that she appeared standing up. It was unusual for a coin to change so dramatically and it was considered a bold move to use a different version of the Britannia theme. The coin has since become a popular one amongst collectors, and it opened the door for a number of standing Britannia poses.
Britannia was even given the honour of being introduced as a coin in her own right. In 1987 a Gold Britannia coin was announced, and an entire precious metal series followed, with a silver version being added in 1997.
The astonishing fact is that Britannia has appeared on a circulating British coin in one way or another in an unbroken cycle between 1672 and 2008. Her reappearance to the definitive £2 coin is sure to delight collectors as she becomes a permanent feature of our pocket change once again.
Britannia’s return to the £2 coin means that the 2015 Technology £2 coin is now the very last of its kind. We have a small quantity of the Brilliant Uncirculated 2015 Technology £2 Coin available to buy in protective capsules. Click here for details.