£5 Coins
Royal Mint announces new coin themes for 2015
2015 is set to be something of a momentous year for coin collectors, with five significant anniversaries to be commemorated next year. They are:
£2 – The 800th Anniversary of theMagna Carta
2015 
marks 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta – an agreement which forced King John to abide by the ancient laws and customs by which England had previously been governed. Literally translated as “Great Charter” it laid the foundations for modern democracy and the rights of English citizens. In fact, it is still cited in many legal cases to this day.
50p – 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain
Perhaps surprisingly, this will be the very first time that the Battle of Britain is commemorated on a United Kingdom coin. In the summer of 1940, Nazi Germany was quickly advancing through Europe, but their failure to gain air superiority over the RAF in Britain was ultimately one of the turning points of the war.
£2 – 100th Anniversary of the First World War – Royal Navy
The second design in the series of First World War £2 coins pays tribute to the role of the Royal Navy. At the time, it was by far the most powerful navy in the world and was a major asset to Britain in defending coastal waters against the Germans.
£5 – 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo
Also making its debut on United Kingdom coinage for 2015 is the Battle of Waterloo. Fought by the Duke of Wellington and his allied armies against Napoleon Bonaparte of France in 1815, it was a defining moment in European history – ending 20 years of conflict in the continent.
£5 – 50th Anniversary of the Death of Winston Churchill
There are few Britons more worthy of commemoration than the wartime Prime Minister himself, Sir Winston Churchill. Following his death in 1965 he became the first person outside of the Royal family to be commemorated on a coin, and now, fifty years on, he is being honoured again on a new £5 coin.
Next year the Queen is due to become the longest reigning monarch in British history, and there will soon be a new portrait on our coins to honour her. With the final appearance of the long-standing effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS and five very noteworthy anniversaries, it already looks like 2015 will be a truly landmark year for coin collectors.
Confirmed: A new Edith Cavell £5 Coin
The Royal Mint have confirmed that next year they will honour the life of wartime heroine Edith Cavell on a new £5 which commemorates the centenary of her death during World War One.
The announcement comes after pressure from relatives of Cavell who recently submitted a petition with over 100,000 names to Her Majesty’s Treasury in a passionate appeal for her to be included in any First World War commemorative plans.
A sense of injustice has been felt ever since Lord Kitchener was revealed as the face of the new 2014 £2 coin. Critics have branded his ‘Your Country Needs You’ message as jingoistic, and completely juxtaposed to the bravery of Edith Cavell who sacrificed her life to help around 200 allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium.
The face of a wartime heroine
Our blog on a possible Edith Cavell £2 coin earlier in the year included a poll which offered you the choice between the Lord Kitchener £2 and our artist’s impression of an Edith Cavell £2, featuring her portrait and famous last words “Patriotism is not enough”.
The Times have mistakenly believed our artist’s impression to be the new Edith Cavell £5 coin
The result: Edith Cavell and our artist’s interpretation of her commemorative £2 coin triumphed.
In fact, it was such a well-received design that the Times have picked it up in their editorials and mistakenly believed it to be the new design for the £5 coin next year!
A fitting tribute
It remains to be seen whether the new 2015 £5 coin will bear any resemblance to our mocked-up version, but whatever the design, it will be a well-deserved tribute and justified recognition of a wartime nurse who made the ultimate sacrifice to help others.