Commemorative coins of the United Kingdom

Commemorative coins have been issued by the Royal Mint in the United Kingdom since 1935. Initially they only came out to mark events of great interest, but since the turn of the millennium have been minted yearly.

Until decimalisation crowns (five shilling coins) were used for this purpose as they were the highest denomination of the time, but due to inflation this rôle has been transferred to higher value coins.

Crowns, £5 Coins and (until 1996) £2 Coins are non-circulating, although they are still legal tender. These denominations are only used for commemoratives. During the decimal era, crowns were converted to twenty-five pence.

50p and recent £2 Coins circulate normally and can be found in change. Usually about 5 million of each of these are the commemorative issue, the rest being of the standard design.

Since 1982 all of these have also been produced as Sterling silver and 22 carat Gold proofs.

Although the design of the £1 Coin changes every year, these are not considered to be commemoratives, as they do not maek an event or its anniversary.

Crowns

Main article: Crown (British coin)

• 1935: Silver Jubilee of George V
• 1937: Coronation of George VI
• 1951: Festival of Britain
• 1953: Coronation of The Queen
• 1960: British Trade Fair in New York
• 1965: Death of Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister

Twenty-five pence

Main article: twenty-five pence

• 1972: Silver Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
• 1977: Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
• 1980: Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 80th Birthday.
• 1981: Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer

Five Pounds

• 1990 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 90th Birthday
• 1993 40th Anniversary of Coronation of The Queen
• 1996 The Queen's 70th Birthday
• 1997 Golden Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
• 1998 The Prince of Wales' 50th Birthday
• 1999 Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial
• 1999/2000 Millennium
• 2000 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 100th Birthday
• 2001 Queen Victoria Centenary of death
• 2002 Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
• 2002 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Memorial
• 2003 50th Anniversary of Coronation of The Queen
• 2004 Entente Cordiale Centenary (Peace treaty between Britain and France)
• 2005 Bicentenary of Battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Lord Nelson (2 coins)
• 2006 80th Birthday of The Queen
• 2007 Diamond Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
• 2008 60th Birthday of The Prince of Wales.
• 2008 450th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth I.
• 2009: The 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII.
• 2009: Three years until the 2012 London Olympics, swimming ^[1]
• 2010: Two years until the 2012 London Olympic Games, athletics ^[2]
• 2011: The 90th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh ^[3]
• 2011: Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton ^[4]
• 2011: One Year until the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games, cycling ^[5]

Fifty Pence

Main article: Fifty pence (British decimal coin)

• 1973 Joining EEC
• 1992 EU single market and the British Presidency
• 1994 D-Day 50th Anniversary
• 1998 25th Anniversary of joining European Community
• 1998 50th anniversary of the formation of the National Health Service
• 2000 Centenary of the Public Libraries Act 1850
• 2003 Centenary of the Women's Social and Political Union (the Suffragettes).
• 2004 50th anniversary of the first Four-minute mile by Roger Bannister.
• 2005 250th anniversary of the publication of Samuel Johnson's first English Dictionary
• 2006 150th anniversary of the creation of the Victoria Cross. (two coins)
• 2007 Centenary of the Scout Movement
• 2009 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
• 2011 Fiftieth anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund
• 2011 Celebrating London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (each of 29 disciplines on a separate coin^[3]

Two Pounds

Main article: Two pounds (British coin)

Non-circulated

• 1986: Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh
• 1989: 300th Anniversary of the Bill of Rights 1689
• 1989: 300th Anniversary of the Claim of Right Act 1689
• 1994: 300th Anniversary of Bank of England
• 1995: 50th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War
• 1995: 50th Anniversary of the United Nations
• 1996: Tenth European Football Championship in England

Circulated

• 1999: Rugby World Cup in Wales
• 2001: 100th Anniversary of the first successful trans-Atlantic wireless transmission
• 2002: XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester (4 coins, one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• 2003: 50th Anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA
• 2004: 200th Anniversary of the first railway locomotive
• 2005: 400th Anniversary of Gunpowder Plot
• 2005: 60th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War
• 2006: 200th Anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (2 coins), showing respectively Clifton Suspension Bridge and Paddington Station.
• 2007: 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade
• 2007: 300th Anniversary of the Acts of Union 1707
• 2008: 100th Anniversary of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London
• 2009: 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of publication of The Origin of Species
• 2009: 250th Anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns.
• 2011: 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible.
• 2011: 500th Anniversary of the Mary Rose.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/LUKC1.aspx
2. ^ http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/LUKC2.aspx
3. ^ ^{a b c} "2011 UK Brilliant Uncirculated Commemorative Coin Set". Royalmint.com. http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/DU11.aspx. Retrieved 2011-01-13. 
4. ^ http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/UK11RWBU.aspx
5. ^ http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/LUKC3.aspx

Sources

• Royal Mint website