Saturday, March 6, 2010

The Coinage History Of U.K. Coin Collecting

The Coinage History of U.K. Coin Collecting

Money was never been quite so valuable until coin collecting entered the world of the
hobbyists.

Since its inception, coin collecting has continuously represented the ancient way of
preserving the history of the human race. Coin collecting allows people to protect and
conserve their nation’s history. Through this kind of activity, coin collectors allow other people to touch and examine the kinds of coins that ancient people used.

In the United Kingdom, coins are considered one of the most precious relics that the
nation has ever produced because most of their coins are considered to be a true
representation of the royalty. For instance, U.K. coin collectors would be happy to own
the 50-cent coins that were manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint for the “Golden
Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.”

Facts about UK Coin Collecting

Unlike in the U.S., coin collecting in U.K. uses different terms in categorizing the
kinds of coins that are collected. For instance, in the UK coins that were circulated
from 1971 to 1981, the term “new pence” was used to differentiate them from the so
called “ancient pre-decimal pennies”.

By the year 1982, experts felt the need to change the word “new” into a more concrete
characteristic that would denote the value of the coin as well. Therefore, the terms
“two” or “thirty” were used as well as other terminologies that would indicate the coins
worth.

After a year, the “two pence” or the “2p” coins were so common that the coin collectors
had very little demand for them so the Royal Mint continued to issue the “2p” coins but
only in sets that were exclusively distributed to coin collectors. There are only 20
“2p” coins that still bear the “new pence” wording on the reverse side in circulation and
new coin collectors who wish to collect these coins will have difficulty in finding them.

In line with UK history, the UK coin collecting has undergone many changes. The very
first change was the “decimalisation” of the coins. With the inception of the “decimal
coinage,” the English coinage system was established on relationships that indicate the
new value of the ancient coins. For example, the coin that used to be known as 2 halfpence

is now converted into 1 penny, while 20 shillings is equal to 1 pound or £1.

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