Royal Mint Experience (Visitor Centre)

[Stuntman]

I spent a very enjoyable two and a half hours at the Royal Mint Experience today, at Llantrisant.  The tour was excellent, pitched at a good level so that everyone could understand the basics of how the coins are produced, and although you don't see the furnace or where the metal is rolled out into coils, you do get to see the factory floor where the coins are being struck.  

I paid the extra fee to strike the new 12-sided £1 coin (well 'strike' is an overstatement, you press the button).  The staff member puts the bimetallic blank into the collar, and then the dies strike the coin twice.  This makes it a BU coin as opposed to a circulating coin.  For circulating coins, the dies strike the coin only once.

The volume and scale of production is impressive.  I've visited several factories (I used to work for a couple of food companies) and seeing production and distribution facilities is always a real eye-opener.
 

The real area of interest for people like us is the set of exhibition rooms.  These contain all sorts of interesting artefacts from the design and production processes, as well as plenty of coins.  Some of which are fantastically rare and beautiful, but some of which would be best described by Pete as rang tang!  As someone with a fairly modest collection compared to some, this made me smile!

Anyway, here are some photos which I hope you'll enjoy.  They aren't the best quality - taken with my phone and of course the coins are behind glass or plastic. 

I would thoroughly recommend visiting and would gladly go again!

 

One of several items relating to Isaac Newton:

Trial plates - from 1477, and 1707:

Cromwell die, Charles II punch:

Five Guineas of Charles II (Elephant) and Anne (Vigo):

Sovereigns:

James I Unite:

Pistrucci's engravings of George III's head on Jasper discs.  I recognise the second one as being the sixpence or shilling, and the third one as being the 'bull head' halfcrown, but what's the first one?

London 2012 Olympic medals:

Can't remember exactly what this is - Henry VII or VIII I think?

Henry VIII Testoon:

Edward VI Sovereign(?):

Penny of some description:

Now this shell is impressive:

Beauty and the rang tang Cartwheel Penny:

A family of Nobles:

George V £1 banknote:

1935 Silver Jubilee Gold Crown - never knew these existed:

Elizabeth I Pound:

1746 proof set:

I think this is an 1853 proof set (the label said 1893 but it certainly isn't):

A one kilo gold coin from 2015:

And now the very rare/interesting stuff.  Here's an Edward VIII sovereign:

Una and the Lion £5, and the corresponding die:

And finally:

Do I detect a spot of verdigris on the border teeth at about 10 o'clock?

____

What a treat, a cracking place to visit.  I bought a £20 Welsh dragon fine silver coin as well as a memento.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

 

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by Stuntman

[Rob]

" Pistrucci's engravings of George III's head on Jasper discs.  I recognise the second one as being the sixpence or shilling, and the third one as being the 'bull head' halfcrown, but what's the first one? "

A model for an 1816 pattern guinea or sovereign, struck by Thomas Wyon after Pistrucci. WR185 & 186 refer.

[Stuntman]

Impressive knowledge as ever, Rob.  Thanks!

[Rob]

Just now, Stuntman said:

Impressive knowledge as ever, Rob.  Thanks!

No, just a plethora of literature. I don't absorb it all, I just have a reasonable idea where to look.

[Leo]

I went last year. Like you, I enjoyed the exhibition a lot, but the 'experience' bit left me a bit cold. Perhaps due to the fact that it was one of the first weeks after opening and there were issues to iron out - the striking machine stopped working and the guide was a student who didn't know much about coin minting...

Still, a lovely place

[ozjohn]

 I'm off to the UK in August and will try to get there as I will also be going to Wales. Recently I visited the RAM in Canberra again an interesting and informative visit. In your post you mention that you could not see the manufacture of the strips of metal the blanks are pressed from. This was the same at the RAM however the manufacture of the blank coins has been moved offshore to Taiwan perhaps this is the same in the UK.

Edited February 9, 2017 by ozjohn
missing word

[1949threepence]

Fantastic collection of really interesting pics, Stuntman. Thanks for those.

With regard to the 1933 penny and the possible verd at 10 o'clock, yes, you may be right. Also, it doesn't exactly look in mint condition either. There are what look to be light carbon spots, one by Britannia's helmet, and the other just under her left elbow, as well as some whitish marks. If somebody said it had circulated for a time, I'd be inclined to believe them.

Did you get to keep the pound coin you pressed the button to strike?

[Stuntman]

I agree on the 1933 penny, definitely not in mint condition but possibly all the more charming for it.

Yes, I did get to keep the pound coin.  If you want to strike the coin it costs a fiver, but you receive the coin in a small card folder which says "I struck this coin".  I'll post a picture up later.

[Matteo95]

13 hours ago, Stuntman said:

 

1935 Silver Jubilee Gold Crown - never knew these existed:

 

And you could even buy one next month https://www.dnw.co.uk/auctions/catalogue/lot.php?auction_id=452&lot_id=1799&search=1

13 hours ago, Stuntman said:

 

 

[Stuntman]

^^^ Interesting, thanks Matteo.  The coin at auction looks in much better condition than the one at the Royal Mint.  In the rarefied world of high-end coins, £30k-£40k almost sounds cheap if that's what it ends up going for.

[JamieB]

very interesting, thanks for sharing 

[Stuntman]

You're welcome.

Here's the new £1 coin that I 'struck':

 

And here's the Welsh Dragon £20:

[1949threepence]

Hadn't realised that the reverse designer was only 15 when he won the public design competition. Fair play to the lad, he's made a damn good job of it.    

[JamieB]

What's the significance of the low ball grade cartwheel penny?

[Nordle11]

1 minute ago, JamieB said:

What's the significance of the low ball grade cartwheel penny?

Probably there just to show the size/thickness as opposed to the design or denomination.

[Rob]

1 minute ago, JamieB said:

What's the significance of the low ball grade cartwheel penny?

A comparison of the sublime with the ridiculous? I'm awfully jealous of the adjacent George Noble.

[PWA 1967]

The proof set in the sheild is 1893 to me ,but happy to be shot down 

[Chingford]

17 minutes ago, PWA 1967 said:

The proof set in the sheild is 1893 to me ,but happy to be shot down 

Penny/Halfpenny/Farthing are Lighthouse/ship Reverse so not 1853, I agree with you Pete

[Sword]

7 hours ago, Stuntman said:

I agree on the 1933 penny, definitely not in mint condition but possibly all the more charming for it.

Yes, I did get to keep the pound coin.  If you want to strike the coin it costs a fiver, but you receive the coin in a small card folder which says "I struck this coin".  I'll post a picture up later.

Great photos. Thanks!

I do get the impression that museums don't always treat their rare coins well unfortunately ... 

[Stuntman]

2 hours ago, Chingford said:

Penny/Halfpenny/Farthing are Lighthouse/ship Reverse so not 1853, I agree with you Pete

Agree on the bronze coins.  The silver coins are Young Head/Gothic Head, so the proof set must have been somewhere between 1860 and 1886 I would say.

1853 rang a bell yesterday because I had remembered this item from the colin cooke website, but it's clearly a different set.  The set at the Royal Mint Experience appears to have two of each coins, so that both the obverse and reverse are on show in the lovely heart-shaped case.

http://colincooke.com/coin_pages/royal_mint_sets.html

[copper123]

will put this on my list of too do's

Would it rate better than a day at alton towers ?

At least tere are no queues in the mint

[1949threepence]

39 minutes ago, copper123 said:

will put this on my list of too do's

Would it rate better than a day at alton towers ?

At least tere are no queues in the mint

Probably safer 

[Bernie]

On 09/02/2017 at 4:52 PM, PWA 1967 said:

The proof set in the sheild is 1893 to me ,but happy to be shot down 

The proof set pictured does amazingly have coins struck in different years, it surprised me, I've seen it.

[Bernie]

On 08/02/2017 at 9:58 PM, Stuntman said:

I spent a very enjoyable two and a half hours at the Royal Mint Experience today, at Llantrisant.  The tour was excellent, pitched at a good level so that everyone could understand the basics of how the coins are produced, and although you don't see the furnace or where the metal is rolled out into coils, you do get to see the factory floor where the coins are being struck.  

I paid the extra fee to strike the new 12-sided £1 coin (well 'strike' is an overstatement, you press the button).  The staff member puts the bimetallic blank into the collar, and then the dies strike the coin twice.  This makes it a BU coin as opposed to a circulating coin.  For circulating coins, the dies strike the coin only once.

The volume and scale of production is impressive.  I've visited several factories (I used to work for a couple of food companies) and seeing production and distribution facilities is always a real eye-opener.
 

The real area of interest for people like us is the set of exhibition rooms.  These contain all sorts of interesting artefacts from the design and production processes, as well as plenty of coins.  Some of which are fantastically rare and beautiful, but some of which would be best described by Pete as rang tang!  As someone with a fairly modest collection compared to some, this made me smile!

Anyway, here are some photos which I hope you'll enjoy.  They aren't the best quality - taken with my phone and of course the coins are behind glass or plastic. 

I would thoroughly recommend visiting and would gladly go again!

 

One of several items relating to Isaac Newton:

Trial plates - from 1477, and 1707:

Cromwell die, Charles II punch:

Five Guineas of Charles II (Elephant) and Anne (Vigo):

Sovereigns:

James I Unite:

Pistrucci's engravings of George III's head on Jasper discs.  I recognise the second one as being the sixpence or shilling, and the third one as being the 'bull head' halfcrown, but what's the first one?

London 2012 Olympic medals:

Can't remember exactly what this is - Henry VII or VIII I think?

Henry VIII Testoon:

Edward VI Sovereign(?):

Penny of some description:

Now this shell is impressive:

Beauty and the rang tang Cartwheel Penny:

A family of Nobles:

George V £1 banknote:

1935 Silver Jubilee Gold Crown - never knew these existed:

Elizabeth I Pound:

1746 proof set:

I think this is an 1853 proof set (the label said 1893 but it certainly isn't):

A one kilo gold coin from 2015:

And now the very rare/interesting stuff.  Here's an Edward VIII sovereign:

Una and the Lion £5, and the corresponding die:

And finally:

Do I detect a spot of verdigris on the border teeth at about 10 o'clock?

____

What a treat, a cracking place to visit.  I bought a £20 Welsh dragon fine silver coin as well as a memento.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

 

 

You are correct, the coin has been handled many times, apparently it was kept loose in the curator's  (G.P.D) desk draw for many years.

[PWA 1967]

9 hours ago, Bernie said:

The proof set pictured does amazingly have coins struck in different years, it surprised me, I've seen it.

That explains it thanks Bernie.

It confused me as the bronze were buns / lighthouse (so not 1853 ) and the set displayed as 1893 with the silver as mentioned earlier dates.