Isle Of Man hits a six! Limited edition ICC 50p series released…

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is taking place in England and Wales this summer and to celebrate this iconic event, the Isle Of Man have issued a series of 5 officially licensed 50p coins.

Whilst the designs of these new coins will certainly be of interest to cricket fans, it’s the British Isles coin collectors out there who will be keen to secure these coins for their collection, as each design will be entering circulation on the Isle of Man…

Isle Of Man ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 50p Series

In anticipation of the event, the Isle Of Man have issued this stunning series of 50p coins.

An initial strike of 12,500 of each design will enter circulation on the Isle of Man, and undoubtedly these coins will be highly collectable by both cricket fans and coin collectors alike.

The first coin features a slip catch. The slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field, with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper’s reach.

1. 2019 Isle of Man ‘Slip Catch’ 50p

The second coin features a cover drive – considered one of the most graceful shots playable in the sport. This involves the player stroking the ball through the covers with well-timed delivery aimed at or outside the off stump.

2. 2019 Isle of Man ‘Cover Drive’ 50p

The next coin features the Cricket World Cup official logo for 2019. This year’s logo shows the iconic ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 trophy placed in the center of the logo.

3. 2019 Isle of Man ‘ICC World Cup logo’ 50p

The fourth coin features a stumping. The action of stumping can only be performed by a wicket-keeper if the wicket-keeper puts down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground and not attempting a run.

4. 2019 Isle of Man ‘Stumping’ 50p

The final coin features a delivery stride. The delivery stride forms part of the bowling action that results in the bowler releasing the ball in the direction of the batsman.

5. 2019 Isle of Man ‘Delivery Strike’ 50p

The obverse design of each coin features Jody Clark’s most recent effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II which includes the Queen’s shoulders and the Victorian coronation necklace.

2019 Isle of Man ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 50p series. Obverse design by Jody Clark

History of the ICC Cricket World Cup

Originally, the ICC was founded as the ‘Imperial Cricket Board’ in 1909 to govern international matches involving England, Australia and South Africa. By 1989 the organisation had taken up its current name and now the International Cricket Council has 105 members: 12 Full Members that play Test matches and 93 Associate Members.


Test match cricket in 1912. Credit: www.icc-cricket.com

The ICC is responsible for cricket’s major international tournaments, of course including the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which will be hosted by England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July this year.

Limited number entering circulation…

Typically, mintage figures for British Isles coins are notoriously low compared to UK figures, due to the much smaller population.

In fact, last year the Isle of Man released two hugely popular £2 coins to celebrate the TT races, with a mintage of just 3,000 coins each!

Following the popularity of the TT coins, these ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 50ps have an initial mintage of 12,500 coins per design, and I’m sure Change Checkers on the Isle Of Man will be eager to hunt down this summer.


Secure all 5 Isle Of Man ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 50p coins today!

The coins will only be entering circulation on the Isle of Man, but you can secure the complete set in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for your collection today!

Click here to order the Isle Of Man ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 50p Set for just £30 (+p&p) >>

50 years of The Royal Mint at Llantrisant… The move to decimalisation

Standing strong for over 1,100 years throughout Britain’s wars, political upheavals, social and economic progress and technological and scientific advances, The Royal Mint’s history can be traced back through our country’s coinage.

But it was on the 17th of December 50 years ago that The Queen herself opened the new site for The Royal Mint, which was moved to a purpose-built site in Llantrisant following 157 years at Tower Hill, London.

This was the first time since its inception that The Royal Mint had been based outside of London, and marked an incredibly important moment in the history of our coins.

 

The Queen opening the new Royal Mint in Wales. Credit: royalmintmuseum.org.uk

 

The move to Llantrisant

In 1966 it was announced that Britain would adopt a new decimal currency. This meant that hundreds of millions of new coins would need striking and Tower Hill simply didn’t have enough space to cope with this demand and so the decision was made to find a new location for The Royal Mint.

Llantrisant made it onto the shortlist of the top 7 locations, and as James Callaghan (Chancellor of the Exchequer, Master of the Mint and an MP for Cardiff) supported a move to Wales, Llantrisant was chosen for the big move.

 

Staff from Tower Hill visiting the new Royal Mint site in Llantrisant. Credit: royalmintmuseum.org.uk

 

Britain’s new Mint

The announcement was made in 1967 and construction soon began on the new site. For the Llantrisant area, the move meant more work and a regeneration of the town, as well as adding to the sense of history and tradition. It was estimated that the move would provide 10,000 jobs to South Wales.

It was in 1968 that the site was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen when she switched on the coining presses to begin production of decimal bronze coins.

Llantrisant was built to house the most advanced coining machinery in the world and have a larger capacity than any other mint in Europe, necessary to cope with the amount of new coinage needed.

When the site opened, the circulating coin presses could strike up to 200 coins per minute, however the latest generation of presses today strike around 750 coins per minute!

Decimalisation of Britain’s coins

The 15th of February 1971 is known as the day that Britain “went decimal”. 

Whilst this was the official ‘Decimal Day’, three years before this, the new 5p and 10p coins were actually introduced. These coins were the same size and value as the existing one and two shilling coins to make the transition easier for the British public.

It was in 1969 that the first seven sided coin – the 50p – was introduced to replace the 10-shilling note as a more economical alternative and then finally, on Monday 15 February 1971, the transition was complete when the half penny, 1p and 2p coins were also introduced.

The new Mint at Llantrisant successfully transformed hundreds of years of everyday currency from 12 pennies to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound, to the new pound made from 100 new pence.

 

Royal Mint coin production plant. Credit: dailymail.co.uk

 

Today the Royal Mint is the market leader and the largest single supplier of plated coins and blanks in Europe. They can produce 90 million coins and blanks a week – that’s almost 5 billion coins a year!

And all this has been made possible thanks to the advanced facilities at Llantrisant, as pictured above, without which the move to decimal coinage simply wouldn’t have been possible.

 


 

Own this Historic Royal Mint anniversary DateStamp™

 

 

To mark the move of The Royal Mint to Llandistrant, you have the opportunity to own the Royal Mint in Wales 50th Anniversary DateStampTM.

Featuring the 2016 Wales £20 coin with the iconic Welsh dragon design, and postmarked 17th December 2018, exactly 50 years since The Royal Mint moved to Wales.

Click here to secure yours >>

Poll: Choose your all-time favourite £1 coin design

 

As part of the Great One Pound Coin Race, we want to find out Britain’s ultimate favourite £1 coin.

Over the last couple of months we’ve been asking Change Checkers to vote for their favourite UK, Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh and English £1 coin designs.

Now this is the last poll left to vote in until we find out which £1 coin is Britain’s all-time favourite design.

Please vote for your favourite £1 coin from the finalists in the below poll: