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

[Alan71]

The most recent £1 coins for St Helena are dated 2015, and before that, 2006, so I'm surprised they've exhausted their supplies already.

[eurocoin]

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.

Likewise Saint Helena coins used to circulate on the Falkland Islands, but I was recently told by a collector who visited the islands that this is now no longer the case. "It appears they have been taken out of circulation".

[eurocoin]

No order for Saint Helena and Ascension 1 pound coins was made in 2018, nor were any other denominations ordered in 2018. This has today turned out to be a misinformation of the Saint Helena government.

They are considering whether or not to issue a 12-sided pound coin and possible design changes for the 1 pound coin are part of that consideration too.

[Figleaf]

I am sure you got the right image for the coat of arms, but its helmet piece is surprisingly wrong.

The woman is supposed to be Saint Helena and sure enough, her attribute is a cross. In Catholic iconography, the cross should be larger than the figure, but that is no more than a quibble. More serious already is the headgear. It is supposed to be an imperial crown, because Helena was the mother of an emperor. The dress and mantle take the errors to another level. The blue mantle is a symbol for heaven and the white dress stands for the immaculate conception. These clothes come from the wardrobe of Saint Mary! Worse still is the flower, which is the attribute of Saint Anthony of Padua. Before his sex change operation one presumes.

Peter

[Deeman]

The Coat of Arms was designed by the Garter King of Arms in London in consultation with the Governor and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during 1982/83, and was authorised on 30 Jan 1984.

This is the heraldic description of the Coat of Arms (with reduced heraldic jargon):

It features a shield, the chief (band occupying top part of the shield) showing the national bird, the St. Helena plover, on a gold background. The base (lower part of the shield) depicts an Indiaman (three-masted sailing ship) with black rigging and gold furled sails heading towards two cliffs on the dexter (right side, being that to the left of the spectator).
The crest (figure affixed to the helmet) upon a helmet in a blue naval crown is a demi figure representing St Helena. She is wearing a gold veil, silver vest and blue mantle. She is holding a lily in her right hand and, in the crook of her left arm, she is supporting a cross raguly (cross whose arms have small regular projections set at an angle on both sides). Surrounding the shield is a blue and gold mantle and beneath the shield, upon a scroll, the motto 'Loyal and Unshakeable.'

How the motto was acquired seems to be a mystery. It has been suggested that it was introduced by Governor Massingham when the new Coat of Arms and flag were commissioned in 1983.

[Figleaf]

No religious authorities involved. I would have expected the King of Arms to be more knowledgable about religious conventions, though.

Peter

[Deeman]

Listed on ebay:

2006 St Helena & Ascension Islands £2 coin used circulated condition.
Obviously had a hard life!

[Figleaf]

With the funny gap between ring and pill, is it genuine? It looks like some of the round pound fakes a few years ago.

Peter

[Deeman]

With the funny gap between ring and pill, is it genuine?

I assume it is a fake. Somewhat strange though to see such wear after a relatively short time. It is of interest to someone as a bid has been placed.

[andyg]

Coin is genuine IMO, but I agree it does look poorly made.

[eurocoin]

The coin is genuine.

[Deeman]

The coin is genuine.

Assume, therefore, that it is a weak strike.

[Deeman]

St Helena are to issue a set of stamps in May 2021 for the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon.
Thought they would have taken the opportunity to issue a coin for the occasion, but no mention of such.
Is it because they don't have a contract with a mint?

[<k>]

St. Helena-Ascension tooling.    Image ® Royal Mint Museum (UK).

I recently asked if the Royal Mint Museum held any alternative but unadopted designs for the 5, 10 and 20 pence coins of 1998. They did not, but the results show that St. Helena and Ascension intended to keep the original 1984 designs for the reduced size 5 and 10 pence coins of 1998.

The original designs, first issued in 1984, were:

5  pence.  St. Helena plover, also known as the wirebird.
10 pence.  Arum lily.

The issued designs for 1998 were:

5  pence.  Jonathan the giant tortoise. 
10 pence.  Two dolphins.               
20 pence.  Ebony flower.

The word CALMAX appears on the image of the tooling, above.

I found this PDF online: CALMAX.

[Offa]

The only coinage I saw when I was there in 1982 en route south to kick the Argentinian army out of the falklands was mainly American from the US base on ascension