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?
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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!