Numismatics - or coin collecting - is all about history.
Coins are long-lasting, durable items.
Coin collecting is one of the few collectibles sectors where pieces that are thousands of years old are regularly traded. Sometimes for very affordable prices.
To collect coins is to dig through the strata of a nation’s history.
So for British coin collectors here are 10 numismatic dates that define our currency and our story.
1 - 4th to 2nd Century BC
The first coins arrive in the British islands.
They may have been payment to mercenaries who had fought for Carthage or Syracuse. Then traders from Europe started to bring coins that they had based on Greek designs.
2 - 2nd Century BC
Potins are the first British-made coins
Potins were made in Kent and were probably copied from coins made in the south of France.
Around the same time the Greek-imports were also being melted and restruck with locally specific images.
3 - 650 AD - Coins of the Kingdoms
The Romans left Britain without really establishing a lasting, local minting operation.
The islands were a group of kingdoms - sometimes at war with each other - that produced their own currency.
By 650 AD there were 30 mints across Britain.
4 - 886 - The Royal Mint
Alfred the Great is the only British monarch to earn that title and among his many accomplishments (some rather fancifully recorded) he helped give Britain a centralised mint in London from around 886.
The date is set by the striking of Alfred the Great pennies in London.
Pennies were adopted from Frankish kingdoms on the continent and were a silver coin (some earlier coins had been gold). There were 240 pennies in a pound.
The name and standardisation is a little earlier than Alfred, probably down to King Offa of Mercia, and from his reign only pennies were struck in Britain for around 500 centuries.
Even early British coins like these Henry I pellets from around 1100 survive in surprising numbers and condition.
5 - 1327 - 1335 Edward III’s reforms bring in new denominations
Various attempts at diversifying the coinage were made, but it wasn’t until Edward III’s reign that a successful and lasting new settlement was reached.
Under Edward nobles (and half and quarter nobles) were brought in. They were gold coins worth a 1/3rd of a pound (British coinage has often demanded good mental arithmetic skills). Groats and hald groats were made of silver, like pennies, and half pennies and farthings (¼ pennies) gave people small change.
6 - 1489 Henry VII issues the first sovereign
Much of the machinery of modern statehood was pioneered by the Tudor dynasty. And, one of our longest lasting coin issues (and most popular collectible and bullion coins) was first issued as a result of an order of October 28, 1489 from Henry Tudor.
He wanted “a new money of gold”.
There were already gold coins, but this was a high quality issue and there’s no doubt Henry saw it as a legitimizing tool for his new regime after the Wars of the Roses.
Kings until James I struck a new sovereign as they ascended to the throne.
The sovereign was reintroduced in 1817 as part of a broader coinage reform.
The modern sovereign was worth 20 shillings or £1 and was definitely the showpiece of the nation’s - and its empire - coinage.
Sovereigns are still struck today as bullion coins and they are valuable collectibles in the right issue.
The Bank of England was founded as a private bank and not nationalised until after WWII.
7 - 1695 - the first permanent banknotes
Not long after the foundation of the Bank of England (to help pay for a war with France), the British people were introduced to their first permanent banknotes.
As they are today, bank notes are a promise of sorts: “I promise to pay the bearer…”.
Initially, they were handwritten to meet an amount deposited in the bank or used as a means of giving a loan.
By 1745 the printing of a range of notes had begun starting at £20 and going as high as £1,000 (an astronomical sum in modern currency).
It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that they started to function as standalone stores of value. Up until then they had to be signed. And it was only in the early 20th century that the Bank of England had monopoly on issuing them.
8 - 1696 Isaac Newton takes over the Royal Mint
The highly accurate and scientific standards used to protect the legitimacy of coinage are in large part down to the reforming zeal of Sir Isaac Newton: scientist, occultist, and mint master.
Newton was given a job that was previously considered a sinecure and went at it with unprecedented fervour.
He made British coinage extremely high quality and uniform. That made it much harder to forge.
That wasn’t enough for Newton though who reportedly personally trawled London’s pubs collecting evidence of forgers and led prosecutions himself. Many were executed as a result of his dedication to the integrity of the currency.
While the vicious penal codes of the time are indefensible now, Newton’s single-mindedness is responsible for some of the best coins in the collecting world.
Newton's reforms ensured the quality and purity of British coinage for centuries to come.
9 - 1797 The Cartwheel Penny
Pennies are a permanent feature of English coinage, but in 1797 the Cartwheel Penny signalled a big technological improvement in striking coins.
The first Cartwheel Pennies were made in Birmingham at a private mint that crucially used steam presses that could churn out coins much more quickly.
Industrialist Matthew Boulton didn’t compromise on quality though and won a contract to make the coins the first time they were made of copper rather than silver.
The design showed Britannia, who had been used on coins before, ruling over the waves for the first time.
10 - December 1936, Edward VIII abdicates
The love affair between Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson caused a constitutional crisis and has made a lot of stamp and coin collectors very happy.
An Edward VIII sovereign is the most valuable British coin in history, selling for £1 million in 2020.
Rarity is key to value in all collectible markets, so Edward’s blink-and-you-miss-it reign is a focus for collectors of all sorts.
He removed himself from the throne too quickly for the somewhat slower moving world of coin production to react and as a result only trials and proofs of coins for his reign were ever made. All are very rare and potentially very valuable.
The £1 million coin. Edward VIII's short reign means only tests and proofs of his coinage were made.
Collecting rare coins today
Coin collecting is a fascinating hobby and a window on our national history.
While the scarcest and most collectible coins tend to be older, you can start by checking your pocket change for rarities made much more recently.
We stock rare coins. And we’re always looking for new ones.
