Posts Tagged ‘changechecker’
Royal Mint announces a treat for Olympic 50p Collectors
With 25 days to go until the Olympic Games in Rio this Summer, the Royal Mint have released a coin that’s sure to excite the hundreds of thousands of people who collected the Sports 50p coins for the London 2012 Olympics.
The new UK Team GB 50p Coin
This UK 50p coin has been released to wish Team GB success in Rio this summer.
The coin’s obverse design features a swimmer with the Team GB logo, the Olympic rings and the inscription ‘TEAM GB’. Designed by Tim Sharp, the coin has been officially endorsed by Team GB and celebrates the spirit of the British Olympians.
The 30th Olympic 50p
In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games, 29 million Olympic 50p coins were released into circulation across 29 different designs – 1 for each Olympic sport.
Remarkably the Royal Mint estimated that 75% of those coins were removed from circulation as collectors clamoured to complete the collection, with many coins like Football and Judo barely ever seen in your change today.
[read more about which Olympic 50p coins are the rarest]
The top 10 rarest Olympic 50p coins
The new Team GB coin will surely become known as the “30th Olympic 50p” and with so many established collectors, it seems certain that its release will be greeted with much excitement.
The 2016 UK Team GB 50p
If you can’t wait to find this coin in your change you can add the Brilliant Uncirculated Team GB 50p to your collection now.
Revealed: The face of the new £20 banknote
Exciting news emerged over the weekend on who would replace economist Adam Smith on the £20 note.
Adam Smith’s image has featured on the £20 banknote since 2007, but early last year the Bank of England announced plans to replace him.
The bank of England asked the British public to nominate “people of historical significance” from the world of visual arts, from a list of 590 eligible candidates. Some of the nominations included Alfred Hitchcock, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Richard Attenborough, Beatrix Potter and William Blake.
Of the 590 candidates, just 5 were shortlisted by a Bank committee and included – artist JMW Turner, designer Josiah Wedgwood, filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, sculptor Barbara Hepworth and painter William Hogarth.
The final decision was made by the Bank’s governor, Mark Carney and it has now been revealed that artist JMW Turner and his painting ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ will feature on the new £20 banknote.
The design
The design features Turner’s self-portrait from 1788 along with one of his most famous paintings ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ which is a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire which played an important role during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
The quote ‘Light is therefore colour’ comes from a lecture by Turner at the Royal Academy in 1818 and his signature is taken from will when he donated all of his works to the nation.
Due to enter into circulation in 2020, the £20 note will be the third banknote made from Polymer, following on from the £5 note featuring Winston Churchill and the £10 note featuring Jane Austen. The £50 note will remain in circulation with the same design and there are currently no plans for them to be issued in polymer.
Happy Birthday Ma’am!
Not only is our Queen now the longest reigning monarch in British history, but today Her Majesty is celebrating her 92nd Birthday – the only British sovereign to reach this milestone.
To celebrate, we’ve put together a timeline of the most significant moments in history while looking through some of the coins that have adorned Her Majesty’s portraits through the years.
Elizabeth immediately became Queen after her father King George VI passed away. Her Coronation was delayed for 16 months because of a traditional period of mourning that follows the death of a Monarch. The first commemorative crown of her reign was designed by Gilbert Ledward and captured the hearts of the nation.
The first coins of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign featured the first portrait of Her Majesty by Mary Gillick. The portrait is remembered for reflecting the optimistic mood of the nation and was also used on coinage in many of the commonwealth countries.
In 1965, a crown was released by the Royal Mint which changed everything. This particular Crown is famous for being the first British coin to feature anyone outside the Royal Family – Sir Winston Churchill.
On Decimal Day, the UK and Ireland decimalised their currencies. The new currency system meant that the pound would be divided into units of ten, including half, one, two, five and 50 pence.
The marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip Mountbatten took place on the 20th November 1947 and in 1972, the couple celebrated 25 years together. The Royal Mint issued the first British coin to have a face value of 25p to mark their 25th Wedding Anniversary.
The thirteenth Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh in 1986 which saw the striking of the very first commemorative £2 coin. Not only that, it was the first coin to commemorate a sport.
The very first bi-metallic coin was issued in 1997 – one year prior to the portrait change. This coin is the one and only year that Raphael Maklouf’s portrait appears on the bi-metallic £2 coin. His portrait features Queen Elizabeth II wearing a necklace, which earned the coin its unique status and nickname in the collecting world, the ‘Queen with a Necklace’ £2.
2011 saw the introduction of a new design for the 1oz Silver Britannia who has a long standing history with British coinage. The coin features the 4th portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley which is regarded as being a realistic and mature representation of the Queen.
In 2015, British History was made as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated an incredible Royal milestone, becoming our longest reigning monarch. This remarkable £20 coin was issued in celebration and features all 5 portraits of Her Majesty. The obverse features the fifth portrait of Her Majesty as 2015 was the first year that the Jody Clark portrait was used on UK coinage.
To celebrate the 90th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II a selection of brand new commemorative coins were issued. Designed by Christopher Hobbs, the coin depicts nine roses – one for each decade of her life as well as the number ’90’ in the centre.
2016 proved to be a significant year for collectors and the 90th Birthday celebrations were no exception. The coins that appeared throughout Her Majesty’s reign have proved to be very popular over the years and we’re sure the 90th Birthday commemorative coins will be favourites among collectors in years to come.
Own your own piece of numismatic history
Add the 2016 UK 90th Birthday CERTIFIED BU £5 to your collection today >>