Vintage Coins

[colliewalker1]

I wonder what happens to them then - are any released to collectors or are they melted down?

This is an extract from an earlier post in which I speculated on the way in which the Royal Mint dealt with coins withdrawn from circulation.

Does anyone know the answer please?

[Sylvester]

I think the US mint melts them. I THINK! Feel free to prove me wrong.

I wouldn't care to speculate on what the Royal Mint does.

[mint_mark]

I remember when the Euro came in they had special machines that rendered the old coins unusable (basically it bent them out of shape and defaced them) so that they could then be stored and transported without high security (just scrap metal now). Then they basically got melted and many were made into euro coins.

I don't think they would save any for collectors because coins being withdrawn from circulation are not worth saving and the collectors have saved all the ones they want anyway. New collectors get theirs as old collections get broken up. I did see posters in Germany though (from a bank I think) telling people about rare dates and mintmarks to look out for in their change and advertising how much they would pay for them.

[aleroit2000]

Or, knowing our luck, we go to the Euro (€)  and our RM will be doing all Euro countries currency...we (us brits) used to make the coins for all of our colonies once didn't we?

When UK (and "if") will go to the Euro the Royal Mint will make only British Euro coins. Here in Italy the italina mint makes only italian coins (plus the saint Marin and Vatican ones, but this is for the partnerships between theese countries and Italy).

I'm a supporter of the Euro, couse as I'm a traveler, it's more, more, more useful. but one negative sides is that here in Italy and I think in a lot of others countries the prices of all "pre-euro" coins now are very high, becouse a lot of people in 2002 became to collect "old" liras or pesetas or francs ... so the prices grew up!!!!

Another negative side is that if UK will go to the Euro, I will havo to stop my pounds collection......

bye

Alex

[Chris Perkins]

Did you get my message Alex?

Ciao

[Master Jmd]

To me, going to the Euro would be horrific in terms of a) the british coinage system would be lost, for atleast one-thousand years britain has had its own unique coinage, and c) i simply detest the design of Euro coinage.