UK circulating commemorative coins for 2022

[Deeman]

Here is a potted history of the BBC to the 1970's:

A company named the British Broadcasting Company was formed on 18 Oct 1922 and started daily broadcasting in Marconi's London studio, 2LO, in the Strand, at 6pm on 14 Nov 1922. Arthur Burrows read a news bulletin which included a report on a train robbery, an important political meeting, some sports results and a weather forecast. News was supplied by an agency, and music drama and 'talks' filled the airwaves for only a few hours a day.

The company became the British Broadcasting Corporation by Royal Charter on 1 Jan 1927. On 14 Jul 1930, the BBC transmitted the first televised play ever with a production of Luigi Pirandello's The Man with the Flower in His Mouth using John Logie Baird's 'Televisor' (mechanical TV) on radio's medium wavelengths. In the early 1930s Baird's mechanical system was rapidly becoming obsolete. In 1934, an electronic 405-line monochrome analogue 'cathode-ray tube' system was developed by the Marconi-EMI using ultra-shortwave VHF wavelengths which resulted in the BBC abandoning Baird's system in 1935. The very first live 'high definition' television programmes intended for the public were broadcast by the BBC on 26 Aug 1936 in a newsreel report to the Radiolympia Exhibition. On 2 Nov 1936, the regular high-definition service was formally launched and a week later the BBC's first live outside broadcast was transmitted. The coronation of George VI on 12 May 1937 was the BBC's first major outside broadcasting challenge.

The BBC had begun trialling colour solutions since the resumption of TV services after WWII. They eventually opted for a new system called Phase Alternation Line (PAL), a system using 625 lines offering good colour and contrast. The BBC retained its monopoly of television service in Britain until the passage of the Television Act of 1954 and the subsequent creation of a commercial channel operated by the Independent Television Authority in 1955.

David Attenborough, Controller of BBC2 since the launch of the channel in Apr 1964, oversaw the roll-out of colour broadcasts and on 1 Jul 1967, four hours of live tennis from the Wimbledon Championships were broadcast. Britain became the first country in Europe to offer regular programming in colour. By mid-1968, nearly every BBC2 programme was in colour. Six months later, colour came to BBC1.

The BBC had a monopoly on radio services until 8 Oct 1973 when, under the control of the newly renamed Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the UK's first Independent local radio station, LBC, came on-air in the London area.

In 1974, the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax (derived from 'see-facts') was introduced, created initially to provide subtitles for the deaf, but developed into a news and information service. It was the first teletext service in the world.

[eurocoin]

Newly announced commemorative coins:

50 pence coins:

- Alan Turing
- Pride
- 100 years of the BBC
- Winnie the Pooh and Friends
- Kanga and Roo
- Eeyore

2 pound coins re-issued for the 25th anniversary of the bimetallic 2 pound coin:

- Brunel
- Florence Nightingale
- Robert Burns
- Charles Darwin
- DNA
- Marconi Telegraph
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Charles Dickens
- William Shakespeare (cap and bells with jester's stick)
- First World War (Dreadnought)
- Lord Kitchener
- First World War (War in the air)
- Jane Austen
- Frankenstein
- D-Day

[eurocoin]

I hope that the pride flag piece will be a massive failure. But undoubtedly will it be (one of) the only coin(s) to enter circulation next year. The diversity, pride and Indian crap coins ruin it for me.

[Deeman]

eurocoin, do you know how RM intend to issue the re-issued £2 designs?

Maybe 3 sets of 5?

Hope the BoE dramatically increase the interest rates soon!!!!

[eurocoin]

I was just thinking about this. Although I have no information, I expect that it will indeed be 3 sets containing 5 coins each. The 15 reminted coins will have special edge lettering: "Celebrating 25 years of the £2".

[Deeman]

I have made an educated guess at the obverse inscriptions:

Brunel (2006)
Obverse: Elizabeth II Dei Gra Reg Fid Def 2022, starting top right.

Florence Nightingale (2010)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg Fid Def, starting southwest and ending southeast, with 2022 in the gap.

Robert Burns (2009)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg Fid Def, starting southwest and ending southeast, with 2022 in the gap.

Charles Darwin (2009)
Obverse: Elizabeth II Dei Gra Reg Fid Def 2022, starting top right.

DNA (2003)
Obverse: Elizabeth II Dei Gra Reg Fid Def 2022, starting top right.

Marconi Wireless Transmission (2001)
Obverse: Elizabeth II Dei Gra Reg Fid Def 2022, starting top right.

VE Day St Paul's Cathedral (2005)
Obverse: Elizabeth II Dei Gra Reg Fid Def 2022, starting top right.

Charles Dickens (2012)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg Fid Def, starting west and ending east, with Two Pounds 2022 in the gap.

William Shakespeare comedies (2016)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022, starting top right.

WWI Royal Navy (2015)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022, starting top right.

WWI Lord Kitchener (2014)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg Fid Def, starting west and ending east, with Two Pounds 2022 in the gap.

WWI Royal Flying Corps (2017)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022, starting top right.

Jane Austen (2017)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022, starting top right.

Frankenstein (2018)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022, starting top right.

D-Day Landings (2019)
Obverse: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022, starting top right.

[eurocoin]

Unfortunately, you have too much trust in the mint. They find different edge letterings and obverses too much of a hassle and probably also too expensive. At the mint it is all only about efficiency and cost.

[Deeman]

Unfortunately, you have too much trust in the mint. They find different edge letterings and obverses too much of a hassle and probably also too expensive. At the mint it is all only about efficiency and cost.

1 see what you mean, eurocoin. They will all have the inscription 'Elizabeth II D G Reg F D 2 Pounds 2022'.

[Deeman]

Anniversaries associated with the 2022 50p issues appear to be the 50th anniversary of the first Pride festival that took place in London on 1 Jul 1972, and the 80th anniversary of Turing breaking of U-boat Enigma machine cipher, thus saving the battle of the Atlantic.

He actually cracked the Enigma code in 1941, so it looks like the attribution to an 80th anniversary is to do with the development in July 1942 of a complex code-breaking technique he named 'Turingery'. This method fed into work by others at Bletchley in understanding the Lorenz 'Enigma' cipher machine.

[eurocoin]

The Royal Mint has mistakenly leaked the following image, that shows the commemorative coins that will be part of the annual set.

[eurocoin]

The Commonwealth Games 50p, I find quite nice. The Dame Vera Lynn 2 pound coin is not a good likeness. The platinum jubilee 50p design I like, but I am of the opinion that the occasion was not worth it to break the tradition of not commemorating royal themes on commemorative coins. The Alexander Graham Bell coin is very disappointing. On that piece, every key has a part of a word on it, which together form the sentence: "Pioneer of the telephone".

[agoodall]

i like the two 50ps and the £5 for the Platinum Jubilee. I disagree over the break in tradition with the Jubilee 50p, I would have gone further and had a one year type set with a new obverse for all the definitive coins. Not many people will see the £5, since they're no longer sold at face value through post offices and banks. The 50p will be a worthwhile exception if they mint it in sufficient quantities to circulate widely. If it's only issued in the year sets then it's just another grab for collector's money.

[<k>]

The platinum jubilee 50p design I like, but I am of the opinion that the occasion was not worth it to break the tradition of not commemorating royal themes on commemorative coins.

You mean CIRCULATING commemorative coins.

[Deeman]

A short tribute to Vera Lynn

She was the singer known as the 'Forces Sweetheart' whose recordings of We'll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover shaped the national mood in wartime Britain. The issue coincides with the 80th anniversary of the release of The White Cliffs of Dover.

At the start of the second world war, Vera Lynn was an up-and-coming dance band singer. By 1945, this working-class young woman had become a symbol of the British wartime spirit, with a status comparable to that of Winston Churchill. Lynn's iconic status as the 'Forces' Sweetheart' was due to the success of her radio series, Sincerely Yours, which linked the soldiers at the front with their loved ones at home. In 1944, she visited the troops in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, which kindled her lifelong commitment to the welfare of veterans, especially those of the Burma campaign.

After VE Day, Lynn (her grandmother's maiden name) resumed her career as a variety artist and recording star, but her association with wartime Britain remained central to her identity and reputation throughout her long life. Her place at the heart of national life was officially recognised when she was made OBE in 1969, a dame in 1975 and a Companion of Honour in 2016.

[eurocoin]

Much to my surprise, the Alexander Graham Bell 2 pound coin seems to be liked a lot by collectors. Much more than the other commemorative coins in the annual set. The Dame Vera Lynn 2 pound coin is liked the least.