Milestones in the decimal coinage of the UK

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A fifty pence coin without the "NEW".

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If you look at the difference in the reverses of the five pence with "NEW" (top) and without it (left), you will notice that various changes have been made to the thistle.

1] The cross on the crown is thinner and originally came much closer to the legend than on the new version.

2] The two fleur-de-lis ornaments rising from the rim of the crown have been reduced in size on the new version.

3] The general shape of the crown is slightly different.

4] The flower of the thistle, which supports the crown, is considerably narrower on the new version.

5] On the new version, the leaves of the thistle extend further downwards than before.

6] Look at the stem of the thistle. On the new version, it is longer, thicker and more detailed than before, and the stems of the leaves start higher up the thistle stem than before.

7] On the new version, look at the shape of the leaves - top and bottom. There seem to be more prickles at the bottom of the leaves, and they are longer too, and there are also longer prickles at the left and right hand sides. On close inspection, you will see that the overall shape of the leaves has changed considerably.

8] The shape of the numeral 5 seems to be subtly different in the new version. On the old version, there is a noticeable upward tail at the right hand side of the horizontal top bar of the numeral - this has disappeared on the new version. There may be other slight differences between the numerals (width), but the images are not detailed enough for me to be sure.

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50 pence 1969.

50 pence 1982 (proof FDC version).

There were also considerable differences between the older and newer versions of the Britannia design on the reverse of the fifty pence.

1] On the older version, the trident appears closer to the rim. Its middle prong is shorter and the tow other prongs are less broad at the tip.

2] On the newer version, Britannia is holding the trident at a lower angle. This is presumably to avoid overlapping the letter "T" in the word "FIFTY".

3] On the newer version, the crest of Britannia's helmet is wider than before, and the top right-most point of the crest extends further.

4] On the older version, the bottom-most point of Britannia's helmet has a small upward curl to it. This has disappeared on the newer version.

5] On the newer version, Britannia's profile looks somewhat different and seems to be broader than before.

6] On the newer version, Britannia appears to have less hair falling onto her neck.

7] On the older version, Britannia appears to facing more to the front than on the previous version. This has the effect of making the outline of her breasts look more pronounced than on the newer version. More of her stomach is visible, as it is turned more towards us, and you can see more of how the folds of her dress fall.

8] Britannia is sitting in an apparently more "comfortable" position on the newer version, so that her thighs and knees are held higher up.

9] On the newer version, Britannia appears to have fewer folds in her dress, yet the folds at the bottom left, close to the shield, look more complex than in the older version.

10] On the older version, the two main crosses on the representation of the Union Flag on Britannia's shield run together; on the newer version, they are clearly separated by a dividing line.

11] On the newer version, the sprig Britannia is holding appears to have broader leaves. And look at the right-hand side of the sprig on the older version: there are three leaves growing together in a cluster; this threesome has disappeared on the newer version.

12] The fur on the lion's front appears to extend further to the right on the older version. And on the newer version, there is now a gap between the bottom part of the lion's front fur and its feet - though I am not sure whether they are meant to be the lion's feet or whether it is the bottom of Britannia's robe piled up on the floor.

13] On the older version, the numeral zero in the figure fifty seems to be narrower than in the newer version.

These are all the major differences I can see. There do seem to be some other minor differences, but these may simply be down to the different amounts of wear on the coins in the images.

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In 1983 yet another new denomination was introduced, the first base metal circulation pound coin. It was made of nickel-brass to distinguish it from the existing coins. It was 3.15 mm thick and quite heavy, weighing 9.5 grams and with a diameter of 22.5mm. The edge carried a Latin inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN, which translates as "An ornament and a safeguard", referring to the edge inscription itself.

The design of the pound coin changed on an annual basis, generally as part of a five year series, with one reverse design representing the UK as a whole, while the other four honoured the constituent countries of the UK. The reverse design of the first issue was the Royal Coat of Arms, to represent the whole UK.

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After the controversy over the Northern Ireland two pence designs, none of which was ever issued, it is surprising to note that in 1986 the pound coin design intended to honour Northern Ireland was released without any fuss at all. This is probably because it depicted a flax plant and so was not overtly political or controversial in any way.

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The flax design was reused in 1991. In 1996, another pound coin design was released for Northern Ireland. It was perhaps one the most beautiful of all the pound coin series. The designer, Norman Sillman, noted:
 
"The Northern Ireland pound was part of a national competition set, with elaborate prohibitions for party reasons. I was in Northern Ireland for a short time near Limavaday, where people were fond of the gold Celtic torque found there. From art history I knew of the pre-Catholic Celtic crosses, and my Irish plant books told me of the Yellow Pimpernel around Loch Neagh. I couldn't lose! No politics."

See also:

Norman Sillman and the 1996 Northern Irish Pound Coin Design

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The halfpenny was demonetised at the end of 1984, inflation having put paid to its usefulness. So far this has been the only decimal denomination to be demonetised - though individual coins of higher denomination have since been demonetised.

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Now is the time to show you how the Machin portrait looked on a bronze coin, because it would soon be superseded.

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In 1985 a new portrait of the Queen replaced the Machin effigy, which had served since 1968.

The new effigy was by Raphael Maklouf.

Here it can be seen on the fifty pence of 1997, the final year of its use.

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In 1985 the Royal Mint revealed in its Christmas Bulletin that it was considering yet more changes to the coinage, which was still generally considered to be too heavy at the time. In 1987 it published a pamphlet outlining the options it was considering. This showed some of the changes it would eventually make in the 1990s. You can see what a long lead time that was: 1985 until 1990.

Click on the link below to see illustrations of some of the options discussed in the 1987 pamphlet:

Proposed UK Coin Specification Changes of the 1980s.

 

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In 1986 the Royal Mint issued its first base metal collector two pound coin. Though it was not a circulation coin, it was a harbinger of things to come: the eventual circulation two pound coin of 1997 would have very similar dimensions, though it would be in the bimetallic format.

The reverse design of the collector coin commemorated the Commonwealth Games, which were held in Edinburgh that year. The design was competent enough but was typical of the conservative and unadventurous approach of the Royal Mint to design in those days: everything was either heraldic or symbolic. And after all, we already had a thistle on the five pence coin.

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In June 1990, the first of the Royal Mint's planned changes of the 1980s came to fruition: the five pence was radically reduced in size, from 23.59mm to 18mm in diameter, and its weight was reduced from 5.65g to 3.25g. The reverse design of the thistle was retained, unamended.

The old larger five pence coins were demonetised at the end of the year, along with the old shillings which had still been in circulation in considerable numbers.

In September 1992 the Royal Mint put the second phase of its plans into action by issuing a reduced size ten pence. The older, larger ten pence coin was 28.5mm in diameter and weighed 11.31g. The new coin was 24.5mm in diameter and weighed 6.5g. Somehow it did not seem such a radical change as the one to the five pence. Personally I think the ten pence could safely have been made around 1.5mm smaller in diameter.

The old, larger ten pence coins were demonetised at the end of June 1993, along with the old predecimal florins (two shillings) that had still been circulating in some numbers. The effect of that was that King George VI, whose effigy had appeared on many of the circulating florins, now disappeared from our circulating coinage, and the only remaining coins were decimal ones that portrayed Queen Elizabeth II.

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In 1992 the Royal Mint issued its first circulating fifty pence commemorative since 1973. The 1973 coin had commemorated Britain's entry into the EEC (as the EU was called in those days), and coincidentally the new coin celebrated the UK's Presidency of the Council of the European Community Ministers, from 1992 to 1993. Ironically it was issued at a time of high "euro-scepticism" among both public and many Conservative MPs, which was highly embarrassing to John Major, the UK Conservative prime minister at that time. 1992 was also the year when the UK was forced to leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which was meant to be a prelude to joining the euro (which would not be created until 1999, of course).

The design on the reverse of the commemorative fifty pence was timidly symbolic, full of banal and simplistic stars and lines, and again typical of the conservative approach of the Royal Mint at the time. Surely the design would only have appealed to a bureaucrat?

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In 1994 the Royal Mint issued another commemorative circulating 50 pence, this time celebrating the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy. Surprisingly, the design was a thematic one this time, not heraldic or symbolic, and was a sign of things to come. The Mint had of course occasionally produced thematic designs, such as the wren farthing or the ship ha'penny, but they were both long ago in the past by now. This new design, though somewhat busy, was just the sort of design to appeal to the ordinary man and woman in the street.

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By 1994 there had been several changes to the decimal coinage. Two new denominations had been added (the twenty pence and the pound coin), one had been demonetised (the halfpenny), two coins had been reduced in size (the five pence and ten pence), and all the remaining predecimal coins had been removed from circulation. Yet the Royal Mint thought that still more changes to the coinage were necessary, and in 1994 it published a pamphlet setting out its proposals. To read about these proposals and see some of the illustrations from the pamphlet, click on the link below:

Proposed UK Coin Specification Changes, 1994

In 1997 one of the Royal Mint's proposals came to fruition: the fifty pence coin was reduced in size and weight. Previously it was 30mm in diameter and weighed 13.5g; the new coin was 27.3mm in diameter and weighed 8g. The reduction in diameter was rather modest, but the reduction in weight and the reduced thickness of the coin were welcome.