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Royal Mint unveils new British coin designs

Jaffa Cake said:
At the risk of sounding like a coin nerd, I believe they will. They'll just be allowed to gradually fall out of circulation.
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the top response in google for "coin nerd" is this thread :D

There will probably be a cut off at some point just like you can't use the massive 5 penny these days but I don't see that happening for a fair few years.

And at the current exchange rate you'd probably be better of getting them exchanged into dollars.
 
Not sure about these - I really like the idea, but don't think the execution quite works.

One thing I did notice was that there is now no numbers on them, which will make them really confusing for some people.
 
Kernow said:
One thing I did notice was that there is now no numbers on them, which will make them really confusing for some people.
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Good point. I'd imagine it would be a nightmare for tourists who don't speak English
 
Kernow said:
One thing I did notice was that there is now no numbers on them, which will make them really confusing for some people.
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More importantly Wales isn't represented!

They're not going to be popular round my way.
 
They could have ditched the 1p. It's worth less now than the old half pence coin was when it was withdrawn.
 
Kernow said:
One thing I did notice was that there is now no numbers on them, which will make them really confusing for some people.
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perhaps they have numbers on the other side (?)

Interesting coin facts for the coin nerds out there

  • It is estimated that almost 28 billion United Kingdom coins are in circulation, with a total face value of more than £3.5 billion. If all the circulating coins in the United Kingdom were laid out side to side, they would form a line 397,289 miles long, which is the distance it would take to travel around the world nearly 16 times.
  • At the Royal Mint, the most up-to-date coin press can strike more than 850 coins per minute - 14-coins per second - making it impossible for the human eye to separate the individual pieces as they pass through the press.
  • Only four non-Royals have appeared on British coins: Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century; Winston Churchill on a 1965 crown; Horatio Nelson on a 2005 crown and Isambard Kingdom Brunel on a 2006 £2 coin.
  • The 50p piece issued in 1969 was the first coin in the world to be struck in the shape of an equilateral curve heptagon. The 20p coin is the same shape, and was introduced in 1982.
  • Every year at Goldsmiths’ Hall newly minted coins are checked for size, weight, and composition at the Trial of the Pyx. This is the official procedure for ensuring that newly minted coins conform to required standards.
  • Coins have often been used as weights and are stacked in the huge pendulum of Big Ben to regulate the clock.
  • Grained edges on coins help those with impaired vision to distinguish between different denominations.
  • Since the time of Charles II successive monarchs have been depicted on coins facing in the opposite direction to their immediate predecessor.
  • There have been four standard coinage portraits of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II on United Kingdom coins, all facing to the right.
  • Despite the widespread use of credit cards and debit cards, more coins are now being used in the United Kingdom than at any point in the past.
 
Loge said:
They could have ditched the 1p. It's worth less now than the old half pence coin was when it was withdrawn.
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It doesn't matter how much it is worth. Its needed given that not all prices are nicely rounded to the nearest .00 or .50. You have .99, .97 etc.
 
CorvusCamenarum said:
So will the current set of coins still be legal tender? I've got about £20 worth of coin in a box somewhere from my last holiday to the UK that I saved for my next holiday to the UK.
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I am sure they will be, in the states you can pay with old coins, it wouldn't make sense to make them non-legal tender, just wouldn't make any bloody sense to discontinue the current coins so fast.
 
^ huh? you're not serious, are you, Abstract?


anyway,I like the new coins.

nick9191 said:
I'm guessing the old battleaxe, I mean her majesty, on the other side?
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this made me giggle.

Jaffa Cake said:
The Two Pound coins are remaining as they are – the standard design is only ten years old as opposed to the forty years of he other coins.

The Five Pound coins are special commemorative ones, generally only released every couple of years to mark some occasion or other – each time they have a new design. As such, they're not part of this revamp.
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I like the £2 coins, I think they're kinda slick. :eek: I've never seen a £5 one and the £5 notes are sure hard to come by too.
 
Looks good, will confuse my gran.... she still to this day converts pounds into shillings.

I was born in the 80's I have no idea what shes going on about....
 
I like them, a lot. Think they'll improve how they are picked up by Pay and Display parking machines so I don't have to take a bag of £1s in the hope it'll accept one. :rolleyes:
 
Markleshark said:
I like them, a lot. Think they'll improve how they are picked up by Pay and Display parking machines so I don't have to take a bag of £1s in the hope it'll accept one. :rolleyes:
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You should stop using those homemade coins then.:p
 
They look pretty cool, and in the proper arrangement they look really cool. But I hate coins and would opt for paper change if I could.
 
applemax said:
Wow - if that's seriously your reason, you clearly don't understand finance.
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If you think thats a silly reason you seriously don't understand how irritating it is to have to keep losing money on conversions.
 
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