Comments on "Milestones in the decimal coinage of St.Helena-Ascension"

[Alan71]

2015 10p recently issued - one was listed on eBay.  Alas, I was outbid. 

As far as I'm aware, it's the first issue of any St Helena + Ascension circulation coin since the 2006 ones.

[andyg]

Was it ever confirmed if the 2006 1p coin had ever circulated?

I finally found one - 80p off ebay - it's surprisingly tricky to get one of these....

[andyg]

2015 5p and 10p are plated steel in line with their UK counterparts.

[andyg]

also 2015 dated 20p and £1 have been issued.

[Alan71]

Anyone know how to get these coins?  Only seen the 10p that once on eBay, and I read elsewhere on here that the St Helena government aren't very responsive when it comes to emails!

[andyg]

a 2015 £1 is currently on the bay for £23 BIN

[chrisild]

The reverse of the 5 pence coin features Jonathan the giant tortoise.

- from: Milestones in the decimal coinage of St. Helena-Ascension -

Just read at a German new site that Jonathan seems to be gay. So I did a brief search for an article in English - here we go:

Is the world's oldest living creature gay?.

Now the big question is whether that will have any effect on the local debate regarding same sex marriage, or whether the design will be modified.

Christian

 

[Alan71]

I didn't know this (but doesn't mean it isn't mentioned on the forum) but apparently old-size 5p, 10p and 50p are still legal tender on St Helena and Ascension.  This is apparently because no slot machines exist on the islands, rendering different sized coins of the same denomination a non-issue. 

Source: http://sainthelenaisland.info/coins.htm#currentcirculatingcoins

The relevant paragraphs state:
"As with British coinage, older 5 and 10 pence pieces were resized in 1998 and the 50 pence was resized 2003, though older coins remain in circulation."

Note 6 relates to this and states:
"There are no slot machines or coin-counting machines on St Helena so the varying sizes do not cause any problems."

[<k>]

Excellent find.    I'd been wanting to know the answer to that question for some time.

See how this compares to the Falkland Islands:

"The large Falkland coins ceased to be legal tender on 1 October 2001. All small and large UK coins circulated alongside small and large Falkland Islands coins from 1998 until 2001."

I believe Gibraltar and the crown dependencies acted in tandem with the UK, withdrawing their large coins at the same time.

[andyg]

another interesting snippet from that page...

Falkland Island coins are in unofficial circulation on St Helena. They are identical in size to their local equivalents, but bear different designs. They cannot, however, be exchanged at the Bank of St Helena and may not be accepted in all shops.

[Alan71]

Apologies, andyg, I meant to add a reply but somehow ended up re-writing yours!  I've amended your post back.

I was going to say, does this mean that UK old-size 5p, 10p and 50p still circulate in St Helena and Ascension?  If they can't be bothered to remove old larger coins now, I'd be surprised if they made much effort to replace UK coins when they introduced their own in 1984.

[Alan71]

Is this a complete list of St Helena-Ascension circulation coins issued?

1p - 84, 91, 97, 03, 06
2p - 84, 91, 98, 03, 06
5p - 84, 91, 98, 03, 06, 15 (smaller version from 98 onwards)
10p - 84, 91, 98, 03, 06, 15 (smaller version from 98 onwards)
20p - 98, 03, 06, 15
50p - 84, 91, 03, 06 (smaller version from 03 onwards)
£1 - 84, 91, 03, 06, 15
£2* - 03, 06

In all cases, the Arnold Machin obverse was only used for 1984-dated coins.  All others use the Maklouf.

In terms of dates and re-sizings, the coins were largely consistent with the UK.  The Machin portrait was last used in the UK in 1984, and is the only date it appears on St Helena-Ascension coins.  In terms of re-sizings, the only larger coins with a date after their UK re-sizings were the 1991 5p.  The large gaps between dates means that the actual debut of both the Maklouf portrait and the smaller versions of three denominations was long after those in the UK.

The 20p, at 16 Years after its UK debut and 14 years after the first St Helena circulation coins, had the longest wait.  The circulation (bi-metal) £2 had a mere six-year delay.

*A 2002-dated coin was also issued, but this was a single-metal version similar to the UK version of 1986-96.  I therefore don't count it as being a circulation coin.

[eurocoin]

Is this a complete list of St Helena-Ascension circulation coins issued?

It is.

[Alan71]

It is.

Thanks.  Good to know I've got them all!

[eurocoin]

Saint Helena and Ascension will in 2018 let mint 1 pound coins. They currently have no plans for a 12-sided 1 pound coin. The possibility to introduce new designs on their standard circulating 1 pound coin will be considered.