General info
First look – the new Churchill £5 note revealed…
The New Sir Winston Churchill Polymer £5 Note © Bank of England [2015]
The new £5 note features an image of Sir Winston Churchill, alongside the famous quotation from his first speech as Prime Minister: ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.’
In the background the clock on Queen Elizabeth’s Tower reads 3pm, the time Churchill was making his speech in 1940. Behind the Houses of Parliament you can see the Nobel Prize for literature which the great statesman won in 1953.
The other side of the £5 note featuring Queen Elizabeth II © Bank of England [2015]
But most importantly…
When can I find one in my change?
The new note will enter circulation on September 13th this year. However, with millions of existing five pound notes still in use you may not be able to find one straight away.
Will I still be able to spend my current £5 notes?
Yes you will, but only up until May 2017. After that, they will cease to be legal tender – but you will still be able to exchange them at the Bank of England.
So the new era of Plastic Banknotes is officially upon us! What do you make of the new design? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter or in the comments below.
You can Find, Collect and Swap all of the UK commemorative coins you find in your change for free on the Change Checker Web App… try it here now: www.changechecker.org/app
I’ve just struck my first UK coin…
Striking my very own £1 coin was just one of the highlights of the new Royal Mint visitors centre which opened on the 18th May.
I struck my very own ‘Last Round Pound’
Until last week, the workings of the Royal Mint have remained a closely guarded secret, secured behind high fences and guarded by MOD Police.
But that’s all changed with the opening of the new Royal Mint Experience.
As a keen Change Checker myself, I made sure that I was one of the very first people through the doors on opening day. And this is what I found…
The Royal Mint moved to Llantrisant in Wales in 1968 specifically to strike the new coins that were to be issued as part of decimalistaion in 1971. Before the production of coins moved here, there were two other main Royal Mint locations – The Tower of London and then Tower Hill.
For the first time in over 1000 years, the Royal Mint have opened its doors to the general public allowing unprecedented access to the history of our coins and a look behind-the-scenes of the UK’s oldest institution.
Let me tell you about my experience…
The tour starts with a short introduction to the Royal Mint before being guided over to a separate building to start the factory experience.
The Journey of a coin before it reaches our pockets
Each UK denomination is made up of different compositions which are agreed between The Royal Mint and HM Treasury but the exact amount is kept top secret. For example, 50ps are made from Cupro-nickel while Two pound coins are made from a combination of Nickel-Brass and Cupro-nickel.
These different metals are melted in temperatures that can reach up to 1450°C and then cooled before being rolled into large strips called ‘coils’.
Before the strips are rolled into the correct thickness required for the denomination, half a millimeter is shaved from the surface to remove the impurities which leaves it clean and shiny ready for striking.
Blanks are then punched from these strips at an extraordinary rate of 8,000 per minute per machine.
Depending on the denomination, some coins will have their edge lettering applied. This is to help against counterfeiting. What you may not know though, is the edge lettering is applied before the coin has even been struck.
Striking a coin
An astonishing 1500 Million coins are issued in the UK every year and this all takes place at the Royal Mint is Llantrisant. Add to this number the amount of coins they strike for other countries and you’ll reach an extraordinary 5 billion coins minted in just one year. That’s 90 million coins a week!
I mentioned earlier that the Royal Mint strike coins for as many as 60 other countries around the world. All this takes place in the same warehouse and you will be able to see the forklifts moving coins from machine to machine before they are eventually counted and bagged or boxed according to each countries criteria.
“I struck this coin”
As part of the Royal Mint experience, visitors can strike their own coins. What’s even more exciting is that I struck a 2016 ‘Last Round Pound’ £1 coin. You’ll know that the ‘Last Round Pound’ will not be entering circulation and is only available to buy in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. This striking process is only open to visitors and so only those who visit the attraction will have the opportunity to strike their very own ‘Last Round Pound’.
Adult tickets cost £13.50 and are available to buy from the Royal Mint website.
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.