Royal Mint New Coin Design Unveiling - Tower of London
I was lucky enough to have an invite to this on Wednesday evening. It was an event put on by the Royal Mint to unveil and celebrate the new design for the reverse of all the UK coins. It has been 40 years since the coins had last had a makeover so it was quite a big deal.
It had been quite a big news story throughout the day with articles being published on all the major news websites such as The Independent and BBC News.
The event was held at the Tower of London. A great venue as it is steeped in history, and the original home to the Royal Mint. When we arrived we were given a guided tour by one of the yeoman, who especially loved telling of all the executions that had taken place, and all the headless bodies that are buried around.
The event was drinks and nibbles and was attended by quite a range of people. Lots of senior Mint officials, a few prestigious artists, coin collectors and heads of museums etc. John Snow from Channel 4 news was even there!
There were some speeches from various Mint people and the young artist, Matthew Dent and the designs were unveiled through a DVD presentation. They show the Queen’s coat of arms divided amongst all the coins 1p to 50p and then coming together on the £1 coin. They look great and got a good reception.
Afterwards we were allowed to watch the Ceremony of the Keys, which is the process of locking the gates and takes place every night at 10pm, and has done (i think) since the 14th century. Really interesting!
The best thing about the night was that I got to keep a presentation set of the new coins! They look fantastic! I just hope I dont spend them.
Royal Mint website info: www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/designsRevealed.aspx
