Royal Mint Coins
- The German artist Katrin Korfmann, who lives in Amsterdam, is the designer of the Beemster 5 Euro Coin. She also signed for the Schokland 5 Euro Coin, published in 2018. In the designs of both coins.
- The Royal Mint set a new UK coin record by sourcing and selling an Edward VIII sovereign for £1 million. Queen Anne Vigo Five-Guinea The Vigo Five-Guinea coin was one of only a handful.
The Royal Mint has today released a selection of coins that have been subjected to the rigours of the 2020 Trial of the Pyx, and offer the chance to own a piece of history. Each year The Royal Mint sends a selection of coins to the coveted ceremony at Goldsmiths’ Hall, and those now available to buy include:
British coins are known across the globe ever since the renowned British Empire stretched from India to the United States and beyond. From Pence to Pounds, Britain's Royal Mint continues to strike circulating currency as they have yet to adopt the Euro. The mint also strikes commemorative coins honoring the royal family and more. The Royal Mint is a government-owned mint that produces coins for the United Kingdom. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, the mint is a limited company that is wholly owned by Her Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclusive contract to supply all the nation's coinage.
- The 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Victoria 2019 UK £5 Gold Proof Coin
- The Queen’s Beasts The Falcon of The Plantagenets 2019 UK Five-Ounce Gold Proof Coin
- A Celebration of Sherlock Holmes 2019 UK 50p Gold Proof Coin
One of the highlights of the 2020 Trial of the Pyx was the presence of the two-kilo and five-kilo editions of the Una and the Lion 2019 UK Gold Proof Coin.
The Trial of the Pyx is one of the oldest judicial practices in the United Kingdom. At the Trial, samples of circulating and commemorative coins produced by The Royal Mint are selected at random and weighed for accuracy. Now held at Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, the Trial was first recorded publicly in 1282, and is presided over by the Queen’s Remembrancer or their deputy, who are amongst the highest legal representatives in the country, assisted by an independent jury of members of the Goldsmiths’ Company.
During the ceremony jury members are presented with Pyx boxes (Pyx being the Latin word for chest). The coins are picked from a random selection provided by The Royal Mint and placed in copper bowls. The remainder are placed in wooden bowls and are then weighed for accuracy. The Trial is then adjourned until May to allow time for trial coins to be tested by the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office and the National Measurement Office, however due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s verdict was delivered virtually, for the first time in the ceremony’s history.
Graeme Smith, Queen’s Assay Master at The Royal Mint comments: “Every year coins produced by The Royal Mint go to the Trial of the Pyx, a ceremony which tests and confirms the quality and accuracy of each coin and is something which The Royal Mint prides itself on. The Royal Mint is the only mint in the world to undergo the rigorous independent testing that the Trial demands. I am delighted that the tested coins can now be purchased by coin collectors, this is the ultimate coin investment, allowing customers to own a true piece of British coin history that has been a part of one of the oldest judicial trials in the world.”
Whilst the Trial is steeped in ancient traditions, and attended by officers with some of the oldest job titles in the land (The Master and Deputy Master of The Royal Mint, The Queen’s Assay Master, The Queen’s Remembrancer), the Trial of the Pyx is as relevant today as it has always been, and continues to play an extremely important role, supporting The Royal Mint’s international reputation for excellence in production.
Every Trial of the Pyx coin being offered to collectors is accompanied by a collection of materials illustrating the coin’s distinct place in history. The range of coins available may carry small marks or smudges from having been handled during the Trial of the Pyx. To view the full range of exclusive coins and sets from the Trial of the Pyx visit: https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/trial-of-the-pyx/
The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint, the coins of the United Kingdom. The Royal Mint originated over 1100 years ago, producing coins for England and eventually Great Britain.
British Royal Mint Official Site
Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK. Royal Mint Ltd is 100% owned by HM Treasury, though the latter delegates shareholder responsibilities to the Shareholder Executive.
As well as minting coins for the UK, The Royal Mint also mints and exports coins to many other countries and produces military medals, commemorative medals, and other such items for governments, schools and businesses, being known as the world's leading exporting mint.
Royal Mint Coins Worth Collecting
Responsibility for the security of the site falls to the Ministry of Defence Police, who provide an armed contingent.
In 1968 The Royal Mint began to move its operations from Tower Hill in the City of London to Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, and has operated on a single site in Llantrisant since 1980. At Llantrisant it holds an extensive collection of coins dating from the 16th century onwards, housed in eighty cabinets made by Elizabeth II's cabinet maker, Hugh Swann. The site occupies 38 acres (15 ha) and employs 765 people.
The annual Trial of the Pyx assays coins produced for the UK government for size, weight and chemical composition.
The Royal Mint also manufactures bullion products under 'The Royal Mint Refinery' brand. The Royal Mint Refinery marque dates back to 1852. Operated for more than 100 years by N.M. Rothschild and Sons, it became an established brand with a strong reputation for handling much of the gold and silver bullion sent to London from across the globe for processing under the RMR label. Royal Mint Refinery became a trustworthy name that survived the First and Second World Wars and served an ever evolving bullion market until production ceased in 1968. The Royal Mint Refinery brand was revived by The Royal Mint in 2015, when it stared issuing gold and silver bars. The range was later expanded to minted bars carrying themes from the bullion coinage ranges of the Royal Mint (e.g. Britannia, James Bond etc.).