The British Royal Mint launched brilliant uncirculated 2008 United Kingdom £5 Gold Coins this week and announced that they would have an extremely low mintage of 750. The annual issued coins are struck in 22 carat gold with each measuring an impressive 36.02 millimetres in diameter.
It’s the largest coin of the gold sovereign family and weighs 39.94 grammes and contains 1.1771 ounces of gold, which is five times the amount within a single sovereign.
The obverse of heads side of the coins bears Her Majesty The Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS. The reverse or tails side depicts Benedetto Pistrucci’s dramatic portrayal of St George and the dragon.
Read the rest of this entry »
The British Royal Mint is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the decimal £1 coin with two special and spectacular 14-coin proof collector sets. The rare commemorative 22-carat gold proof set and the .925 sterling silver proof collection each bear reverse designs that have been used on pound coins during the last twenty-five years.
Both sets of coins look exceptional. One thing, however … Do not get too excited about the gold proof set. The coins are already extremely rare. With the Mint only producing 150 sets worldwide, few will ever see them in person.
For an added contrast to the silver proof coins, the Royal Mint added 24-karat gold plating to each coin’s designs, making them "pop" with extra detail.
Read the rest of this entry »
New 2008 commemorative £2 coins celebrating the centenary of the 4th Olympiad in London are available from the British Royal Mint. The attractive, limited edition commemorative coins comes in Brilliant Uncirculated and Proof versions with each bearing a unique reverse design honouring the centenary of the London Olympic Games of 1908.
Read the rest of this entry »
Analyzing the effort to reward ratio of creating counterfeit coins and then successfully getting them into daily circulation would seem to forestall an attempt to actually do it. Unless you have a mint-style facility with all the necessary equipment, materials and staff at your disposal, the work required to phony up fake coins is an imposing thought.
Then, imagine trying to close "shop" and before heading home for the day, exchanging your freshly forged counterfeit coins for real cash at the local store.
Believe it or not, one man, Marcus Glindon from north London, undertook an almost similar and gigantic task. He managed to counterfeit 14 million blank coins, and 2.5 fully stamped £1 coins during a seven year period.
Read the rest of this entry »
Since many coins contain a precious metal, we expanded our website to include charts and spot prices of silver, gold and platinum (found here). In doing so, I was reminded of a common misconception many people have regarding the system of weight for precious metals. Many think an ounce of gold is the same “weight” as an ounce of beef. It’s not!
When you step on the scale, you don’t think of it but what’s being measured uses the system of weight known as avoirdupois. If we’ve lost a few pounds, we’d say something like, “I lost 2 pounds!” We wouldn’t say, “I lost 2 avoirdupois pounds!” Read the rest of this entry »
