UK circulating commemorative coins for 2020

[Deeman]

The dinosaur 50p coins will not be released into general circulation. The other 2 coins in the series will be released in March and April.

Iguanodon from March 16 and the Hylaeosaurus from April 6.

[<k>]

50p coins to commemorate UK's contribution to dinosaur discoveries - ITV News

Extract:

A range of commemorative 50p coins will be emblazoned with dinosaurs to mark Britain's contribution to discovering the prehistoric creatures.

The coins will feature three different dinosaurs, the fossils of which led British anatomist Sir Richard Owen to coin the term "Dinosauria" in a paper in 1842, the Royal Mint and Natural History Museum said.

The renowned Victorian scientist applied the name, meaning "fearfully great lizards", after realising the fossils of Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus shared common characteristics.

[Deeman]

Short text to accompany the Megalosaurus:

Megalosaurus was first found in England and was the first dinosaur to be officially named. It started the science of palaeontology.

In 1824, the Reverend William Buckland wrote a paper titled‭ '‬Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield‭'‬ based on the various fossils that had been found as quarrying tunnels were excavated at Stonesfield, north of Witney in Oxfordshire. The fossils were found some years before, the dentary having been placed in the collection of the Oxford Anatomy School at Christchurch College (Oxford) in 1797. The fossilised lower jawbone as seen by Buckland is shown in the design.

Megalosaurus, meaning 'giant (or great) lizard,' was a bipedal, carnivorous theropod ('beast-footed') dinosaur with short arms, short neck and massive tail, from the mid Jurassic period, about 165 million years ago. Using the Greek root 'mega' turned out to be a bit of a misnomer as it was only one-quarter the size of T. Rex.

[eurocoin]

The Megalosaurus 50p is currently the SYO at the Royal Mint Experience. Yesterday the minting press was misbehaving and the dies have clashed badly. However quality control is none existent so no action was taken and therefore all of the SYO's currently have the error.

[Deeman]

The Megalosaurus 50p is currently the SYO at the Royal Mint Experience. Yesterday the minting press was misbehaving and the dies have clashed badly. However quality control is none existent so no action was taken and therefore all of the SYO's currently have the error.

One Ebay seller (Huwgg) stated "struck today (16 Feb) with 4 strikes of the die at higher than normal pressure". Error not obvious from photo.

[eurocoin]

One Ebay seller (Huwgg) stated "struck today (16 Feb) with 4 strikes of the die at higher than normal pressure". Error not obvious from photo.

The Royal Mint has now changed the minting dies so I guess it was a die clash rather than 4 strikes being the problem. The average on the Strike Your Own machine is 3 strikes but given the delicate design and relief I think 4 may well be normal for this coin.

[africancoins]

I got one of the circulation Brexit 50 Pence coins today....  It was changed given at a local shop....

Has anyone else had one for just 50 Pence yet ?

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[eurocoin]

I recently received a BU specimen in ChangeChecker card for free from a friendly dealer. An historic coin in good quality but the design remains very disappointing of course.



Recently I read that Nigel Farage, who showed his Strike Your Own coin (the Struck on the day version) on television several times on Brexit day, gave his SYO to President Trump while visiting him in the White House.   

[<k>]

I got one of the circulation Brexit 50 Pence coins today....  It was changed given at a local shop....

Has anyone else had one for just 50 Pence yet ?

Not me. I seem to be getting a few rabbit 50 pence coins lately.

[Deeman]

I got one of the circulation Brexit 50 Pence coins today....  It was changed given at a local shop....

Has anyone else had one for just 50 Pence yet?

Same as <k>, not seen one yet. Recently got 1918 People Act and Paddington at St Pauls. Don't know anybody who has had one in their change to date.

[andyg]

The post office were giving them out on b-day here, I received one in change that afternoon. No more since.

[<k>]

Recently got 1918 People Act and Paddington at St Pauls.

I got those exact same two in recent weeks. Now that Matthew Dent's round pound has gone, I think our circulation series is wrecked. Therefore we should emulate old Ireland and produce a barnyard set for our standard circulation coins, but this time a barnyard of cartoon animals. We could have Bungle on the penny, Biffo the Bear on the 2p, Sooty on the 5p, Pooh bear on the 10p, Paddington on the 20p, and Rupert on the 50p. The pound and 2 pound coins would be given over to heraldry as usual. The millennials would love this set and the Royal Mint would make trillions of pounds, dollars, euros, you name it, around the world, selling these wildly popular sets. 

[eurocoin]

Since yesterday I am receiving reports that The Royal Mint will soon issue a new 50 pence coin in the Beatrix Potter series.

Update 11:46: Publisher Penguin Random House did not want to confirm or deny that a new coin was being issued but told me to keep an eye on The Royal Mint's social media channels for any upcomming announcements 

[eurocoin]

The Royal Mint will soon issue a commemorative 50p coin to commemorate scientist Rosalind Franklin. She discovered things related to DNA. The coin will depict Photograph 51. It will be the second release in the Innovators in Science series.

[Deeman]

The Royal Mint will soon issue a commemorative 50p coin to commemorate scientist Rosalind Franklin. She discovered things related to DNA. The coin will depict Photograph 51. It will be the second release in the Innovators in Science series.

The issue marks the centenary of Rosalind Franklin's birth.
Franklin, born in July 25, 1920, in London, showed an early interest in science and trained as a chemist, becoming an expert on coal and other carbon-based materials. She earned a doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1945. She then worked in Paris, developing skills at using X-ray crystallography to study crystalline structures, before moving to King's College London, where Maurice Wilkins had been studying the molecular structure of DNA. Franklin took up DNA studies and produced exceptional X-ray images. She came close to determining DNA's double-helix structure, but didn't get it quite right.
Meanwhile James Watson, who had been following her research, was shown one of her X-ray images by Wilkins in early 1953, enabling Watson and Francis Crick to deduce the correct DNA architecture. Franklin saw that the Watson-Crick model was consistent with her work, but didn't immediately accept that the model would ultimately turn out to be right in detail. She died in 1958, and so was not eligible for the Nobel Prize, awarded four years later to Watson and Crick. Wilkins also shared the prize, but there is no doubt that had she still been alive, Franklin would have deserved it more than he did.

Expect next year we will see Charles Babbage appear as an issue would mark the 150th anniversary of his death.