Long before Uber became the enemy of taxi drivers across the country, there was a silver coin that Victorian cab drivers simply hated. The coin was in circulation for less than 20 years, but that was plenty long enough to cause offence to horse and carriage drivers. It all came about because people were too […]
Coins are miniature pieces of art. Often designed by some of the world’s leading artists and produced by craftsmen drawing on centuries of minting experience, you should never overlook the quality of a coin’s design. The best designs create demand and raise a coin from being just another issue into something exceptional. Don’t believe me? […]
To mark the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth, the Isle of Man exclusively commissioned renowned sculptor Luigi Badia to produce modern interpretations of the portraits used on our coinage during Victoria’s reign. The results are remarkable. Here you can take a behind-the-scenes look at how the portraits went from concept to coin. Stage 1 […]
Late last year, The Royal Mint held the first ever historic coin auction in its 1,000 plus year history. The star of the show was meant to be an 1839 Una & the Lion £5 gold coin, which has been described as the “most beautiful of all English coins” and had an upper estimate of […]
On the morning of 19 February this year, something remarkable happened. I tried to access The Royal Mint website and was informed that I was in a queue with over 100,000 people in front of me and that I wouldn’t be able to access the website for well over an hour. It was all because […]
This year, one of the world’s most prestigious gold coins celebrates its 40th birthday, but what do you know about the Gold Maple Leaf and why is it so popular with collectors? Here are 6 things you need to know: 1 – It’s Canada’s most iconic coin, being issued annually since 1979 The Maple Leaf […]
There’s a Dollar coin that American collectors just can’t seem to get enough of. It’s one of the most important coins in US history. In fairness, it’s not surprising as it has an unrivalled collection of special characteristics that make it unique. It’s the 1900 Silver Lafayette Dollar and it also has a secret that […]
The 1920 Sydney Sovereign is the rarest gold Sovereign of them all and Australia’s most valuable coin, living up to its billing of the “Greatest Gold Rarity of the British Empire”. But why does a Sovereign with the same technical specifications as any other Sovereign command a fee in the hundreds of thousands? Look no […]
In 2014, the US Mint launched their first ever curved gold coin. Its design, curved to mimic a baseball, won the prestigious Coin of the Year award at the World Fair of Money in Berlin. Most importantly, 50,000 pieces sold out in 24 hours and collectors were literally fighting to get one after queueing for […]
The “modern” Sovereign was introduced in 1817, but there was a very real threat to its existence just 2 years later. Prominent economist David Ricardo proposed the total abandonment of gold coins in favour of banknotes in 1819 – a move that could have completely buried the Sovereign. His suggestion for gold bullion was to […]