The "Illegal" 50p and the Death of "NEW PENCE"

[hkfears]

FYI: Jersey had three coins issued before their circulation coins dropped the word "NEW."  They are the 1972 50 pence and two pounds 50 pence commemoratives (http://jerseycoins.com/com_2/com_2.htm) , along with the 1977 25 pence commemorative (http://jerseycoins.com/decimal/dec.htm).

Starting in May of 1977 Mr J Clennett, Treasurer for the States of Jersey, was in contact with the Royal Mint to order coins without the word "NEW." In June sketches of all the denominations with two alternatives were submitted to the States of Jersey Treasury. In each case, the design has the seal of the Bailiwick with "BAILIWICK OF JERSEY" in its original position and with the value and date underneath the shield. The other design had the "BAILIWICK OF JERSEY" more spaced out. The other difference was the first had dots before and after "BAILIWICK OF JERSEY." Jersey's Finance and Economics Committee indicated that they would preferred having the date split left and right of the center shield (similar to the 1877 1/12th of a shilling.) The modified design was approved and on July 27, 1977, a coinage order was made. During November and December 1977 two sample coins (from 24 originally struck) of each denomination were sent to the States Treasury for approval. Although they meet approval, a problem arose when it was discovered that the law required amending to remove the word "NEW" on the coinage. A year and a half later, coins were still needed but no changes to the law had been made, so in May of 1979, a work order was issued requesting coins made from previously dated dies. Finally, in January 1980, the 1977 order was canceled. Eventually, coins without the word "NEW" were minted in 1981.

Of course, it does not answer the question, "Is the 1977 Twenty Five Pence commemorative issue a legitimate issue?"

See the Royal Mint document MINT-34-T3-Z.pdf (http://jerseycoins.com/documents/royal_mint/jersey/MINT-34-T3-Z.pdf) for more information concerning the 1977 coins.

Because of the difficulty about removing the word "NEW", the following coins were ordered using older dies.
Denomination   Date         Quantity
50P                   1969          80,000
10P                   1975         722,000
5P                   1969       600,000
2P                   1975         250,000
1P                   1971         500,000