Technological advances of Victorian Britain, celebrated on a £5 coin

The Industrial Revolution rapidly gained pace during Queen Victoria’s reign all because of the power of steam. Victorian engineers developed bigger, faster and more powerful machines that could run whole factories. This led to a massive increase in the number of factories (particularly in textile factories or mills) in Britain. By 1870, over 100,000 steam […]

The Barmaid’s Ruin. How a coin led to the fall of barmaids…

In 1887 for her Golden Jubilee, Queen Victoria authorised a new portrait for circulating coinage, as well as a new denomination. This saw the introduction of the Double Florin, which later led to the loss of Barmaid’s jobs and only circulated for 3 years. Featuring a brand-new portrait of the Queen that became colloquially known […]

My top 5 Platinum Jubilee recommendations

The Platinum Jubilee has been the collecting event of our lifetimes. With sell-outs abound there have been some fantastic releases. Hand on my heart, there are many more than five Platinum Jubilee commemoratives that I think deserve to be in the most exclusive collections but today I have challenged myself to limit my recommendations down […]

New UK coin series announced for Her Majesty – get ahead of the crowd

There’s big news coming out of The Royal Mint this morning, with the announcement of a brand new £5 coin series being issued to honour Her Majesty’s record-breaking reign. You can sign up to get ahead of the crowd here or continue reading to find out why that might be the difference between you securing […]

The largest coin ever produced by The Royal Mint

This year I’ve seen a huge range of coins issued to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, but I’ve never seen anything like this… In fact, there’s not been anything like this before in The Royal Mint’s 1,100-year history. Earlier today, The Royal Mint unveiled the largest coin it has ever produced. The gold coin, with a […]

Dissecting a Design: The East India Company’s first 7-sided 50p

The East India Company have just released their FIRST EVER 7-sided 50p coin. It honours perhaps the most famous Aesop’s Fable – the Hare & the Tortoise with a stunning design and an edition limit that will have collectors scrambling to get their hands on it. Click the points below to find out more about […]

The coin at the centre of a royal family feud

The late 1930s was a tumultuous time for the Royal Family. Edward VIII announced his abdication on 11 December 1936 to the shock of the world and the outrage of the Royal Family. Edward’s successor – his brother and our Queen’s father, George VI was furious at the abdication and made it his mission to […]

“Shinplasters” and a changing world…

I want to take you back 150 years ago today and on a hop across the pond to what is now Canada. But Canada wasn’t Canada until 1967 and there were no Canadian coins until 1870. When the UK transferred most of its remaining land in North America to Canada in the summer of 1870, […]

The Platinum Jubilee – The top 5 sell-outs

If the last couple of months have taught us anything it’s that Platinum Jubilee issues are amongst the fastest-selling we have ever seen. But what have been the stand-out issues and what made them sell out so fast? Here we identify the top 5 sell-outs so far. The Top 5 Sell-outs 1. The 2022 UK […]