Exciting British Coin Releases from the Royal Mint

For simplicity we can divide coins into three main groups, those intended for circulation, those intended for collectors, and those precious metal coins intended to be bullion.  Those intended for collectors include proof coins, which are coins struck under greater pressure and with highly polished dies.  These coins show sharper images, and are sought after by coin collectors.  Often these are special strikes of bullion coin designs, or of circulation coin designs.  So, there is often some crossover as far as design goes.

There are two new bullion British coin series, joining the Sovereign, the Lunar series and the Britannia.  The series The Queen’s Beasts began in 2016 for bullion coins, and 2017 for the proof coins.  Already the series is in its minting of its fourth coin, since they are coming out at a rate of two a year.  The first four coins are the Lion of England, the Red Dragon of Wales, the Unicorn of Scotland, and the Griffin of Henry III.  I give more detail in another article on Wizzley linked below, and even more on my coin website, Black Spaniel Gallery Coins, in the coin blog section.  I invite all to read my coin blog.  The even newer bullion series is the Landmarks of Britain, which began in 2017.  I have no idea how many there will be, but the first two focus on London.  The first, the 2017 issue, was Big Ben, and the 2018 issue is the Tower Bridge.  I also have an article on my coin blog on this series which is available for reading here.  Unfortunately, checking the Royal Mint’s website gives only the Queen’s Beasts series, the Landmarks of Britain coins are available only at the Royal Mint Bullion website, which is a separate website.

The one-pound British coin has experienced a problem in the past with counterfeiting.  The new Royal Mint coin makes this difficult, giving an added layer of security.  The planchet, or blank, used to produce this coin has a dodecagon shape.  A twelve-sided coin is different enough to dissuade most counterfeiters.  There are four symbols on the 2017 coin for the nations of the United Kingdom.  While these may show up in circulation, the proof coins are available from the Royal Mint.  An article for my coin blog is planned, and should be ready within a week.

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