UK commemorative themes for 2016

[africancoins]

For UK coins....

Coins that are going into circulation are made in whatever quantities are required by the money supply etc... with these.. how many get put into use in a year and how are many made in a year and how many are made with a certain date can all be different things....

Issue limits are a collector coin thing.... e.g. B.U. or proof sets. The issue limits you might see in an advertisement and the actual number of pieces that the mint ends up selling (issuing) are two different things. In some (or many) Spink catalogues there are some recent sets for which an issue limit is stated and some for which an actual number sold (issued) will be stated. The full issue limit does not always sell... (see some random looking "issued" quantities for such as the gold proof sets of the 1990s).

So with those recent Beatrix Potter coins it would rather seem - limits were set - many coins but not all were sold - sales stopped without the limit being reached - some time passed - then the mint has decided to sell more coins up to the original limit. This could mean going back into production as those coin made to the full limit previously could possibly have been scrapped since.

Re-starting sales after sales from the mint have stopped and a point where the issue limit had not been reached - could be something that has not happened before with the Royal Mint and UK issues.

Have I understood this all correctly ?

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[andyg]

The potter 50p as far as I recall had an issue limit on the website of "unlimited"
Which as daft as it sounds seems to be the official way of writing it.

[eurocoin]

The potter 50p as far as I recall had an issue limit on the website of "unlimited"
Which as daft as it sounds seems to be the official way of writing it.

I have checked an old copy of The Royal Mint website. There was nothing mentioned on it about the maximum mintage figure/issue limit of the BU Beatrix Potter coins.

[eurocoin]

Re-starting sales after sales from the mint have stopped and a point where the issue limit had not been reached - could be something that has not happened before with the Royal Mint and UK issues.

The 2016 coins were no longer available from the mint for quite some time after which they have now, years later, suddenly produced new ones. That is something that has not happened before.

[redlock]

The situation with the 2016 Beatrx Potter coins really isn't unprecedented.

Oh, I didn't know that 

[andyg]

I have checked an old copy of The Royal Mint website. There was nothing mentioned on it about the maximum mintage figure/issue limit of the BU Beatrix Potter coins.

I quote from the website;

This 2016 50p coin has been endorsed by Frederick Warne & Co (a Penguin Random House company) and is available in Gold Proof (750 limit, presented in a wooden case), Silver Proof Piedfort (2,500 limit, black presentation case) and Silver Proof (7,500 limit, black presentation case). All three are accompanied by a booklet on Beatrix's life, her talents and her legacy, and a certificate confirming the limited edition mintage. Unlimited Brilliant Uncirculated variants of the coin are presented in a fold-out wallet, decorated in the style of Beatrix's own illustrations, and telling the story of her life.

link here https://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/press-centre/beatrix-potter/

[africancoins]

>>The 2016 coins were no longer available from the mint for quite some time after which they have now, years later, suddenly produced new ones. That is something that has not happened before.<<

>>years later<<

That is - more accurately - only about one and a half years later (maybe less ?)

Like Eurocoin I looked on old copies of the website - I did not see anything about mintage limited or "unlimited" for the B.U. pieces - but I only looked where they were giving details about individual single coin packs.

At least andyg found clear details about the mint's limits for these.

It would just have been too confusing for these further pieces to have been dated something other than 2016.

Something this reminds me of is the set of 16 silver proof 50 Pence pieces (for 1969-2009) - all were dated 2009 so some were a new date of the same type as previously issued (others differed to originals in obverse design and overall size)... and in those cases the mintages for the original date would have had a limit as silver proof 50 Pence pieces seem to always have a limit.

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[africancoins]

I had not particularly been trying to prove you wrong - however perhaps now I can.

I remembered something about continued minting of gold sovereigns. I ended up at this page...

https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/ranges/historic-coins/historic-sovereigns/1925-george-v-sovereign/

Near the end of that page...

>>1925 Sovereigns were struck again in 1949, 1951 and 1952, which are available to purchase from The Royal Mint.<<

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[eurocoin]

1925 Sovereigns were struck again in 1949, 1951 and 1952, which are available to purchase from The Royal Mint.

An example that is similar to the current situation, though an old example. Very interesting, thank you!

[eurocoin]

A good few collectors amongst which myself have today received a phonecall from The Royal Mint to inform that there was a miscommunication and that they therefore have been giving out incorrect information for little over a week. In contrary to what they have earlier confirmed numerous times, they will not make more 2016-dated Beatrix Potter 50p coins.

[eurocoin]

In 2018, the Royal Mint has minted additional 2016-dated Beatrix Potter coins in BU quality. This due to high demand. This is an unprecedented situation. The mint claims it has no plans to rerelease any other commemoratives issued in the past.

A good few collectors amongst which myself have today received a phonecall from The Royal Mint to inform that there was a miscommunication and that they therefore have been giving out incorrect information for little over a week. In contrary to what they have earlier confirmed numerous times, they will not make more 2016-dated Beatrix Potter 50p coins.

After having said that they would mint new 2016-dated coins in 2018, having rectified that on February 14, having again confirmed they were going to mint new 2016-dated coins in 2018 a few days ago, today the mint has informed people that the re-minting of 2016-dated Beatrix Potter coins is 'under review' and an official statement by the mint will follow soon.

[Alan71]

Is this collector coins or actual circulation coins?  Or both?

[eurocoin]

Is this collector coins or actual circulation coins?  Or both?

As far as I know it is only the BU versions of the Beatrix Potter 50p coins.

[Alan71]

As far as I know it is only the BU versions of the Beatrix Potter 50p coins.

I think that's where it got a bit confused earlier in the topic...  everyone rushed in to point out instances where coins had been struck and issued for circulation long after the date on them.   

If it's the BU versions of them, I think you're right, it hasn't been done before.  In the "old days", collector coins would go "off sale" around the end of March following the end of the year they were dated.

[eurocoin]

The Royal Mint has restored the pages containing mintage figures on its website. Some figures have changed significantly.

The Great Fire of London 2 pounds coin now has a mintage figure of 1.6 million pieces whereas the mint for years mentioned a mintage figure of 5.1 million on its website.

The mintage figure of the Shakespeare 2 pounds coin featuring a skull decreased with 1.1 million from 5.7 to 4.6 million.

The mintage figure of the Shakespeare 2 pounds coin featuring a crown and sword increased with 1.1 million from 4.6 to 5.7 million.