Well since the announcement in November 2005 that new desgins would be on there way we have been waiting to see them and they definately are different





Background & History

As a powerful symbol of royal authority the Royal Arms, in its various forms, has featured on the coinage of almost every monarch since the reign of Edward III (1327-77). Coins were, and still are, issued under the personal authority of the monarch and came to be regarded as vehicles for royal imagery, whether in the form of a portrait or a monarch’s personal Coat of Arms. As heraldry itself started to grow as a symbol of royal identity, it was a natural progression for it to appear on the coinage. It is not surprising then that Matthew Dent, the winning designer, chose the Royal Arms, and in particular the shield of the Royal Arms, as the theme for his innovative range of new designs, with all four quarters spread over the six coins from the 1p to the 50p. Completing the new range of coins is the £1 coin featuring the shield of the Royal Arms in its entirety, uniting the six fragmented elements into one design.

The process of choosing the new designs to replace the familiar heraldic emblems on Britain’s circulating coins began with a public competition which generated more than 4,000 designs from over 500 people - the largest response to any public competition organised to change the British coinage.
Matthew Dent, a professional graphic designer, had seen the competition advertised in one of the
national newspapers and he threw himself wholeheartedly into the project. In seeking to spread a single design across six denominations, Matthew Dent conceived an idea that has never been realised before on the British coinage. Against all the odds, a young artist has won a public competition and devised a stunningly original series that stands as an imaginative and clever solution.



What do we think then? Certainly original, I kind of like them

Well they're certainly better than I thought they'd be! :-)

They look OK I guess, but still, I think they could be better!

Hmm to me it seems there is only really the one design of the shield or coat of arms - with the others being all zoomed-in portions of the same design?

It's certainly a novel new look, different...but I'm not sure how long it will last..

Correct, they are all portions of the design used on the £1 coin




After looking at them several times I have to agree. There rather unique in a sense but how long before there are burning placard demanding the return of Britannia (even though you'll still be able to get coins with her on in circulation for years yet). If anything I think they'll put Britannia on the £2 coin in a few years time anyway.

I think the £1, 10p & 2p look best, the 5p isn't too bad either but the 1p & 20p seem to have the plainest design of the lot.

However I still like them, better than the usual run of the mill kind of design at the do stand out at least. However I think once Charlie/William get to the throne there will be a complete overhaul of them again as you cant really change one design & not the rest as you will then have a "portion" missing

Certainly looks like it...

Oh well, perhaps we should resort to the simple Medieval cross...

Other than the fact that Wales is not represented on them I think they look rather nice. I am though dissapointed that we were once more forgoten.

I know the Royal Mint have striking problems but trying to hide them though design is just not on

My view is Meh! Its an innovative implementation of a dull idea.

I find it stoopid that Wales aren't represented, after all, the Mint is in Wales...

Interesting that the designer is so young - 26 years old. And I do like the idea of a £1 coin that has the complete Royal Arms while the penny/pence denominations show various parts of it.

What I am just wondering about is: These new designs look very good for a one-time (commem style) issue. But considering that most designs of the current series have been used for so many years ... would the British want to see these designs for a similarly long period of time?

Christian

"The current coin designs will remain in circulation and as legal tender for the foreseeable future."

I think they're here to stay, not sure if they'd still mint some commems.

Oh, dear...

I just don't know if I like those. Time will tell.

The more I look at them the more I dislike them.

Bring on the Euro!

Well, I decided that I need to take an even closer look. So I just ordered them (base metal set) a few minutes ago - a tad expensive at £9.95 but then again shipping (even UK->DE) is free. Das ist gut, hehe.


Sigh ...

Christian

I love them. They look so cool!

I bought myself a set too. I was going to order more £5 coins for spending but they must have taken them off last night!

Here is a nice promo/info film from the Royal Mint:
http://www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/videoClips.aspx

Surprise - everybody involved seems to like the new designs.

Christian

I like the idea and the overall design, but only when viewed as a set. I don't think the individual coins work.

For example if you look at the penny coin in isolation you would think what on earth is up with that??? Looks like a mint error where they have tried to stamp a large design on a small planchet.

Just my opinion!!

The more I look at them the less I like them. The ten pence and two pence are ok as individual designs but the others just don't work for me. As for the pound, we've already had that design albeit with a crown on top!!

Click to view attachment

Some of the comments on MSN Money are ridiculous, ranging from "dumbing down of the British Identity" to "waste of Tax money they should spend more on the health service,etc. "

What people forget is that new coins are minted every year anyway

i really like 'em, but i suspect they may be an april fool's joke one day late ...

well it has its own kind of charm...but only good for a little while...it gets boring seeing parts of a jigsaw puzzle as currency over and over...so for the short run...wow nice design...but for the long run (except the one pound...kinda like that plain look on it ) its a dull design however a brilliant idea.

I doubt it as they're for sale on their site.

I've just noticed that th edesign on the 50p is the other way up (the point at the bottom instead of the top), does this mean the obverse will the reverse way up as well or will it remain the same way up?

I ordered the double pack (last of the old, first of the new) for £19.90, may split the single pack old style one to put in my albums, not sure yet.

Well spotted! did not see that myself.

I wonder how this will be handled with future commemoratives.

Just looked at the email for the order I placed with the Royal Mint and it says order no 1, I wonder if I am the first to order the double pack?

Some of the comments on MSN Money are ridiculous, ranging from "dumbing down of the British Identity"

I'd have to agree with that, to be honest, the Portcullis and the British lion gone, Tudor Rose gone, Britannia....

There's been quite a bit of 'dumbing down' with regards to our mythology and the 'identity' perceived to come from that.
It seems like once, we were a nation of lions, Goddesses (Britannia) and mediaeval heraldry but now we are just a shield that has been done too often before...

To be fair though there is quite a bit of heritage with the shield, yes it has been done before but it goes back centuries.

We could have had alot worse, the one design I was fearing most was them being just random abstract shapes.

BTW does this mean the bridges set aren't getting a second airing?

Hopefully!

Now that's what I call a 'wicked' reply

They are not too bad, they are not too good either - that's the main problem I think...

On closer inspection of these images they are a bit hit & miss, liek the £1, 10p & 2p, the 50p & 5p aren't bad either but the 1p & 20p suffer a bit especially the 20p, the design kind of makes the border redundant.

I was also thinking the 1p and 20p look a bit curious - they aren't even full features, as opposed to the 10p and 2p, with good lions on them.

It looks a bit like the designs are snapshots of pieces of the British coat of arms as they would be seen examined through a loupe?

Perhaps they are asking us to inspect our (for me) British identity or maybe encourage us to start checking our change and taking up numismatics.

Oh we may never know...

Some larger photos for you.

I love them. I really do.

Have to admit after what I've already said I do like the lack of shiny fields on the coins as the older designs would pick up scratches after a short while in circulation and the patterns which make up the back of the shield add a matt (frosty?) effect ...

Sky News link for anyone who still cares

New avatar, eh? Well, two days later I still like these new pieces, by and large. Although the 20p is a little strange, with that depiction of butts and tails only, hehe. The others are fine even when viewing the single coins instead of the complete jigsaw puzzle.

In my opinion the 2 pence coin is too big compared to the other denominations (particularly the "recently" shrunk 5p and 10p coins). But that is nothing a designer can change ...

Christian

Yeah

I think the number one complaint Brits have with our coins (before this ) is the size of the two pence. Most people ether want to see it reduced or removed altogether.

Another complaint that I often hear is the fiddly size of the 5p coin, it is a bit stupid. Why's the penny bigger than the 5p?

Oh yeah! that too! US, Canadian, and UK coins are really odd sizes.

We should bring back the Cartwheel twopence...

Oh yeah Canadian coins, one that can't be bought for less than twice its face value...
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...its_market.html

Having seeign those larger photos I have to say I have changed my mind again. I do like them quite a bit now, the 10p, 2p, 5p, 50p, & £1 are great. The 1p is not too bad actually, you could argue that they could have placed it slightly higher up so that you got the lions head in, in full but hey ho.

The 20p still suffers however & as someone who was a big fan of the old 20p, and the only one I felt didn't need to be changed, I just think it's a shame that they didn't swap the places of the 20p & 1p round, especially seeing as the 1p is generally dislike and the 20p is liked.

Here is the view of somebody who strongly dislikes the new designs ...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-...ave-805135.html

Christian

Well most people I've shown them to rather like them as they are different. Give it a year or so & your average punter wont even notice

Some of her points where valid, some of them where reasons to join the Euro. And she was too harsh on the designer. All he did was offer an idea, the final choice is down to the Royal Mint.

I agree the coins need numerals.

I thought there was something missing from them. Ah well I still like them & I think over time people will grow to like them. Will be interested to see if the Queen's Portrait is flipped on the 50p coin

Yeah that is what I want to know too. I see no reason why it would not also be flipped.

I've cracked open the old Macromedia Fireworks package again and have had a go at modifying the Dent designs so that they now show the numeral of value on the "pence" coins instead of having wording only.

Comments/thoughts? Personally, I think these don't look too bad as designs with the number only on them - in some ways, they remind me of the wonderful Isle of Man coins which were issued in 1980 with all of the celtic whirls on them....

Anyway - see what you think.

Best regards

Hertfordian

Looks good, especially the 20p, plus it fills the blank gap

Got my coins today! The Queens head has been flipped to fit the new 50p. The pack comes with an extra folder thing for those who previously bought the "Emblems" pack.