A royal seal is the chief seal of the crown, which has been used to signify the reigning monarch’s approval of important documents for centuries. In fact, they were so important that counterfeiting a Seal of the Realm was considered high treason and punishable by death. Tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages and […]
The Perth Mint has a storied history rooted in the gold rush of the 1850s, a time when vast quantities of precious metal were unearthed in Western Australia. To capitalise on this wealth, The Perth Mint was established in 1899 as a branch of Britain’s Royal Mint. Since then, it has become a cornerstone of […]
Since 1958, the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II has featured on the obverse of British coins. And now, for the first time in 70 years, a new portrait of King Charles III is entering circulation. But did you know that there’s another British icon who has featured on coins for far longer? In fact, she […]
Known for accelerating Allied efforts to read German naval messages, Alan Turing led a team at Bletchley park that eventually cracked the code to the Enigma machine. The Engima machine was a device that encrypted German messages, and without breaking it, it is thought that Britain and its allies might not have countered the German […]
“My coin has an error. One of the sides is upside down!” If you’ve had that thought when looking at certain coins, don’t worry you’re not alone. The “upside down coin” question is one of the most common we’re asked. In almost all cases, it’s never a mistake, but the alignment style decided by the […]
Every year, thousands of coin collectors and hundreds of dealers and Mints descend upon the Estrel Exhibition Centre in Berlin for the World Money Fair. It’s a pretty intense few days of one meeting after an other, being shown countless coins – some from countries I’ve never even heard of. So what caught my eye […]
One coin has dominated discussion over the last few months, probably more than any other coin I can remember. And those discussions are not just limited to coin collecting circles and online forums. This has been headline news. Now it’s here. Let me explain why I think this is such an important coin now and […]
A brand new BREXIT 50p coin is to be issued to mark Britain’s exit from the European Union. The Royal Proclamation has just been passed confirming the new coin. Although announced by the former chancellor Philip Hammond in last year’s Budget, this is the first official confirmation from The Royal Mint that the coin is […]
The Sovereign is without rival as the United Kingdom’s premier Gold Coin, with rich history dating back well over 500 years. It epitomises all that is British. Traded across the world during the 19th Century and early 20th Century, it became known as “The Chief Coin of the World”, whilst today’s modern Proof Sovereigns show […]
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 […]