Some news on the introduction of the relatively new polymer banknotes. The Bank of England introduced the first polymer note (£5) in 2016. The plan was that each note would be expected to last on average 5 years instead of the 2 year average for paper notes.

The BoE has recently reported that 46 million of the £5 and £10 polymer notes have had to be withdrawn due to unexpected ‘folds, tears, holes and foil wear’. This wasn’t expected.

A suggestion. The new polymer £20 note was issued last Thursday. If you get the opportunity, keep a new unfolded polymer £20 note if you get one, especially if it has a relatively low number. If the BoE has to withdraw the new £20 note at the rate they have withdrawn the £5 and £10 notes, in the future, they may become collectible and rare. You won’t become rich but you may make a profit in the future.

Manager of my local Coral gave me a Brexit 50p.. He collects and has a good collection ...he still only has about 7 Alphabet 10p coins. I've not got any yet

mad norm wrote:Manager of my local Coral gave me a Brexit 50p.. He collects and has a good collection ...he still only has about 7 Alphabet 10p coins. I've not got any yet

If he has any A, B, F, N or T tell home to keep them. They are the rarest. Even the Royal Mint swap shop doesn’t have any of them.

I have not had one at all in my change either.

When HRH pops her 'clogs' how long will we still use the notes with her face on it ??

Given that she is 93 its a gamble to print new notes with her face on it.

neilcork68 wrote:When HRH pops her 'clogs' how long will we still use the notes with her face on it ??

Given that she is 93 its a gamble to print new notes with her face on it.

My understanding is that new notes and coins will not be printed or minted until after the Coronation of the new Monarch. That may be some time after the ‘changeover’.

The Bank of England says that the new polymer notes (all denominations) are scheduled to last for 5 years instead of 2 for the paper notes. In any case the BoE says it will keep using the old type notes for a minimum of 6 months, so I suppose it is fair to assume the same rules will apply in the future.

No footie results to check so I can give you some coin news for those that are interested.

Every year, coins that are produced by the RM go to the Trial of the Pyx at the Goldsmiths Hall at Foster Lane in the City of London. A person called the Queens remembrancer presides over a court of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to check the coins for accuracy.

This year, on January 28th, the trial started. The trial saw the largest coin that the Royal Mint ever produced in its history go on trial. It is a 5 Kilogram, 999 fine gold, 17.5 cm, proof £5,000 Una and the lion gold coin. They have already completely sold out.

The Trial of the Pyx has been going on since 1282 and were stringent penalties applied in the past if the coin was found ‘guilty m’lud’. In 1318 the then Master of the Mint went to prison for 6 weeks because the coin was not up to specification. Even Sir Isaac Newton when he was Master of the Mint was at loggerheads with the jury when the integrity of his coins was questioned.

The Queens Remembrancer in line with normal procedure has adjourned the trial until May so that the coins can be tested by the Goldsmiths Company Assay Office and the National Measurement Office. We await the verdict with baited breath. The jury is out. Phew.

Quick update on some coin news. The Royal Mint recently released the third Captain Cook £2.00 coin in the series for 2020. They are available on line from the RM but also from other reputable coin sellers. Not sure how many have been minted as they don’t normally release the mintage figures for a few years. It may be a good idea to keep one if you get it in your change as if the mintage figures are low they will be valuable in the future. This is exactly what happened to the Kew Gardens 50p. They didn’t become valuable until a few years after their release. Going for approx £120 now on eBay. Crazy.

I mentioned some time ago for people to look out for a 1983 2p piece. From 1982 the RM changed the wording on these coins to say ‘two pence’ instead of ‘new pence’. However in 1983 there were a lot of error coins released that still said ‘new pence’. Look out for one of these as I have just found out that they are worth £1000! That is really crazy. Check your coins.

Bit more info’ for you all and how to make some money.

As you know the Olympics have been postponed for this year. The Royal Mint were due to issue a 50p coin for general circulation to celebrate this event as they had done in previous years. This general issue 50p coin has been cancelled.

However, the Olympic 50p is still available as part of a 2020 Annual set in either Brilliant uncirculated (£45) or proof set (£155). Some people have ripped open these sets and are selling the Olympic 50p coin on eBay for over £38. It will only go up in value.

These sets are still available from the Royal Mint. If you have the money, go for it. I wouldn’t recommend that you rip the set apart, just keep it all intact and see the value go right up in future years as well as seeing evidence of this now.

If you want further information, go to the change checker website. Very informative.

pembsexile wrote:

neilcork68 wrote:When HRH pops her 'clogs' how long will we still use the notes with her face on it ??

Given that she is 93 its a gamble to print new notes with her face on it.

My understanding is that new notes and coins will not be printed or minted until after the Coronation of the new Monarch. That may be some time after the ‘changeover’.

The Bank of England says that the new polymer notes (all denominations) are scheduled to last for 5 years instead of 2 for the paper notes. In any case the BoE says it will keep using the old type notes for a minimum of 6 months, so I suppose it is fair to assume the same rules will apply in the future.

Hi Mike,

Just out of interest, are there any coins or notes with an image of Edward XIII?

Bren.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

pembsexile wrote:

neilcork68 wrote:When HRH pops her 'clogs' how long will we still use the notes with her face on it ??

Given that she is 93 its a gamble to print new notes with her face on it.

My understanding is that new notes and coins will not be printed or minted until after the Coronation of the new Monarch. That may be some time after the ‘changeover’.

The Bank of England says that the new polymer notes (all denominations) are scheduled to last for 5 years instead of 2 for the paper notes. In any case the BoE says it will keep using the old type notes for a minimum of 6 months, so I suppose it is fair to assume the same rules will apply in the future.

Hi Mike,

Just out of interest, are there any coins or notes with an image of Edward XIII?

Bren.

Evening Brendan. I spent the last few minutes pondering the subtlety of your question to no avail. I thought there was a hidden question. I’m not very quick on the uptake sometimes. Then it dawned on me, you probably meant Edward the 8th. Well, that’s what I think anyway.

In answer to that one, no coins were released into general circulation for him at all. However the Colonies (as they were then) did release quite a few.

What the Royal Mint did do was produce pattern sets for trial. A few of these sets are now in collectors hands and are worth quite a bit. Proof sets were also made. Some of these have been broken into.

There are at least 6 Sovereign coins and one of these sold recently for a whopping £1 million. Crazy money. Two of the six are in private hands and the other four are with the Royal Mint and museums.

I remember spending a great part of my childhood looking for an elusive 1936/1937 penny. It was a waste of time and an urban myth as they never went into circulation.

One curious fact for you. Edward broke with centuries of coin tradition. You may have noticed
that when a new Monarch ascends the throne, the profile is changed from the previous Monarch, i.e, left profile, then right for the next Monarch etc. Edward wasn’t having any of this so called nonsense. He knew best. He decided that his left profile was his best. So, in his sitting for the pattern trial coins he is shown in left profile as was the previous Monarch George V.

He was a bit of a ‘loose canon’ was our Eddie. Put himself above everything else, was weak willed, an admirer of Hitler and a neo Fascist. The excellent book The Remains of the Day, alludes to this.

pembsexile wrote:

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

pembsexile wrote:

neilcork68 wrote:When HRH pops her 'clogs' how long will we still use the notes with her face on it ??

Given that she is 93 its a gamble to print new notes with her face on it.

My understanding is that new notes and coins will not be printed or minted until after the Coronation of the new Monarch. That may be some time after the ‘changeover’.

The Bank of England says that the new polymer notes (all denominations) are scheduled to last for 5 years instead of 2 for the paper notes. In any case the BoE says it will keep using the old type notes for a minimum of 6 months, so I suppose it is fair to assume the same rules will apply in the future.

Hi Mike,

Just out of interest, are there any coins or notes with an image of Edward XIII?

Bren.

Evening Brendan. I spent the last few minutes pondering the subtlety of your question to no avail. I thought there was a hidden question. I’m not very quick on the uptake sometimes. Then it dawned on me, you probably meant Edward the 8th. Well, that’s what I think anyway.

In answer to that one, no coins were released into general circulation for him at all. However the Colonies (as they were then) did release quite a few.

What the Royal Mint did do was produce pattern sets for trial. A few of these sets are now in collectors hands and are worth quite a bit. Proof sets were also made. Some of these have been broken into.

There are at least 6 Sovereign coins and one of these sold recently for a whopping £1 million. Crazy money. Two of the six are in private hands and the other four are with the Royal Mint and museums.

I remember spending a great part of my childhood looking for an elusive 1936/1937 penny. It was a waste of time and an urban myth as they never went into circulation.

One curious fact for you. Edward broke with centuries of coin tradition. You may have noticed
that when a new Monarch ascends the throne, the profile is changed from the previous Monarch, i.e, left profile, then right for the next Monarch etc. Edward wasn’t having any of this so called nonsense. He knew best. He decided that his left profile was his best. So, in his sitting for the pattern trial coins he is shown in left profile as was the previous Monarch George V.

He was a bit of a ‘loose canon’ was our Eddie. Put himself above everything else, was weak willed, an admirer of Hitler and a neo Fascist. The excellent book The Remains of the Day, alludes to this.

Quite so Latin numbers not my strong point.

A quick update on the value of rare coins on eBay. The following coins have either just sold or are about to be sold on eBay right now;

Kew Gardens 50p just sold for £133. Bloody ridiculous, the market must bottom out soon on this coin.
2020 Annual BU coin set (13 coins) going for upwards of £95.
Team GB 2020 Olympic 50p has 12 bids against it with 1 day left currently at £36.

This Olympic 50p coin will not be issued for general circulation so the sellers have broken in to an annual set to make a quick profit. My advice would be, don’t but the individual coin but if you have any spare cash, buy the annual 13 coin 2020 set. It was available from the Royal Mint for £45 but has rocketed in value because the 2020 Olympic Games will not be going ahead. It should only increase in value.

A few days ago a friend told me that she had heard that a Battle of Hastings proof 50p coin sold on eBay for £67k. I was a bit sceptical about this until I heard the story myself on local radio. Sixty seven thousand!!!

Anyway, a quick check on eBay just now shows a couple of chancers offering the coin at £10,000 and also £100,000! You just cannot make this up. The seller at £10k is even trying to charge £2.08 for postage!! One of them in his notes says that if you buy the coin you will make the news. Yes you certainly will, but not for the right reasons!!

Now, I know that people are not dumb enough to buy these coins at inflated prices, but, please do not even be tempted at anything other than below £3/4 for this circulated coin. The proof may be a little higher as it will have been obtained from a set.

I’ll give you my one for £5k .. I’ll even throw in some magic beans

pembsexile wrote:

mad norm wrote:Manager of my local Coral gave me a Brexit 50p.. He collects and has a good collection ...he still only has about 7 Alphabet 10p coins. I've not got any yet

If he has any A, B, F, N or T tell home to keep them. They are the rarest. Even the Royal Mint swap shop doesn’t have any of them.

I have not had one at all in my change either.

I've got a T and an A Pembs !