Comparing coins from the whole British sterling area

[<k>]

The legend on some collector coins of Tristan da Cunha refers to the Queen as HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II and sometimes just H.M. QUEEN ELIZABETH II. Some read simply QUEEN ELIZABETH II.

I believe that TDC's pieces are the only ones in the sterling area that use 'HER MAJESTY' or even 'H.M.' Am I right, or do you know of any others?

[Figleaf]

That portrait of Eliabeth I must be a form of lèse majesté. Yet, I have started wondering if she was bald. After all, when Mary Stuart had been freshly beheaded, her red whig rolled off, or so they say in Fotheringhay.

Peter

[<k>]

In 1992 Gibraltar introduced a gold bullion coin named the royal.

In 1994 it introduced the first silver 'royals'.



In 2020 BIOT also issued a silver 1 royal coin.

[<k>]

'Ellan vannin' is Manx for 'Isle of Man'.

Are TDC and IOM the only ones in the sterling area to have shown their local names capitalised or in lower case?

[<k>]

UK twenty pence, first issued in 1982: very wide rim.

The modern 20 pence coin was first issued in the UK in 1982.

In addition to its heptagonal shape, it also had a very wide rim.

This made it look even more distinctive.

However, not all the 20 pence versions of the sterling area had / have a very wide rim.




Jersey twenty pence, first issued in 1982: normal rim.




Guernsey twenty pence, first issued in 1982: normal rim.




Falkland Islands twenty pence, first issued in 1982: normal rim.




St. Helena and Ascension twenty pence, first issued in 1998: very wide rim.

P.S. I am not to blame for the labelling of the image. "FRONT" and "BACK" (!) are reversed, of course.




Left: Gibraltar twenty pence, first issued in 1988: very wide rim.

Right: Gibraltar twenty pence, first issued in 2004: very wide rim .

Notice though that the rim is even wider than in the previous version.




Top: Isle of Man twenty pence, first issued in 1982: normal rim.

Bottom: Isle of Man twenty pence, 1992: normal rim. Right: Isle of Man twenty pence, 1993: very wide rim.

From 1993 onward, all the Manx twenty pence coins had a very wide rim.

The Isle of Man is the sterling area territory that has switched the rim type of its 20 pence coins.




The Isle of Man's new 20 pence of 2017 has a very wide rim on the obverse but a normal rim on the reverse.

Another Isle of Man first!




Guernsey did briefly consider having a countersunk 20 pence coin.

See: Guernsey 20 pence 1982: variations.




The UK's 'upside down' 50 pence.

Eventually some territory will probably issue an upside down 20 pence coin, to mimic the current UK 50 pence coin.

Are you listening, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Tower Mint, Pobjoy Mint? You read it here first! 

[Deeman]

<k>, I'm not sure the term countersunk is correct.

I think you should address the Queen's effigy, rather than the background, which I would say is a low relief projecting image within a shallow overall depth.

[Alan71]

It's a thick rim, not countersunk.  Most UK coins have a raised rim (albeit a thin one), so if you're going to say the 20p has it then so do all the others.  It would be countersunk if it also had the thin rim that other coins have.

With regards to an upside-down 20p or 50p, I'd say this is unlikely.  The only reason the standard UK 50p has it is to accommodate Matthew Dent's design.  Not one commemorative 50p has used it since then.  It's an oddity - the standard design doesn't use the standard orientation.

[<k>]

<k>, I'm not sure the term countersunk is correct.

I think you should address the Queen's effigy, rather than the background, which I would say is a low relief projecting image within a shallow overall depth.

So Deeman has ignored my many questions on these two pages but has waited to pounce on me when I make a mistake. Typical. 

The rim, then, on the UK 20 pence coin, is merely wider than normal? I thought that the inside vertical surface of the rim was deeper than on normal coins, such as the 5, 10 and 50 pence coins.. Does anybody know how deep the inside of the rim actually is on the UK 20 pence coin?

[Deeman]

It's a thick rim, not countersunk.  Most UK coins have a raised rim (albeit a thin one), so if you're going to say the 20p has it then so do all the others.  It would be countersunk if it also had the thin rim that other coins have.

I would have said that the 20p UK coin is rimless as it contains incuse lettering.

[<k>]

According to the Royal Mint, the 20 pence has a wide raised rim.

This is a rimless coin:

[Deeman]

A rim is the part of the coin which exceeds the area of the die which strikes the coin during production.

[Deeman]

So who issued the first coloured 50 pence collector coin?
My guess is the Isle of Man, with their Snowman 50 pence of 2003.

I reckon you are correct. Sold in Xmas cards. Design repeated for 2008 Xmas but packaged differently.

[eurocoin]

I once received the 2008-version as a gift from Pobjoy Mint. At the time I received it it was worth 10 pounds or so. Just a few years later the coin reached 800 pounds. The value has now decreased although it is still a very expensive coin. Many Manx coins have extremely increased in value over the years.

[<k>]

With regards to an upside-down 20p or 50p, I'd say this is unlikely.  The only reason the standard UK 50p has it is to accommodate Matthew Dent's design.  Not one commemorative 50p has used it since then.  It's an oddity - the standard design doesn't use the standard orientation.

Good point. The only other 'upside-down' heptagonal coin in the world, I believe, is the Liberia $5 coin of the 1980s. However, it is only upside-down on the reverse, because Liberia, at that time, used a coin alignment of ↑↓ - and maybe it still does?

But I digress. This is about sterling area coins and not world coins in general.

[<k>]

So now some British members are answering questions at long last. Eurocoin answered some on the first page.

Here I will reiterate an earlier question. Any British member who doesn't attempt an answer will be sent to bed without any supper. 

The legend on some collector coins of Tristan da Cunha refers to the Queen as HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II and sometimes just H.M. QUEEN ELIZABETH II. Some read simply QUEEN ELIZABETH II.

I believe that TDC's pieces are the only ones in the sterling area that use 'HER MAJESTY' or even 'H.M.' Am I right, or do you know of any others?