New British Coins.

[Triggersmob]

My Daughter just bought these to my attention.

http://www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/designsRevealed.aspx

What do you think of the designs?

I think it's cool how they make up the shield when put together.

[Snooba]

Wow!  That is certainly not what I was expecting from the Royal Mint!

[scottishmoney]

I am underwhelmed.

[Yass]

Nice design, but a woeful marketing effort.  The pictures leave a lot to be desired.

[Paint Your Wagon]

I had seen the Monnaie de Paris 2003 series of 5 half ounce and full ounce coins with Lance Armstrong winning the tour de France about a 100 times before somebody thought it necessary to mention that all the coins together formed a chain 

[Humpybong]

NICE....I like both the British and the French sets.

It is really cool to see some modern designs on coins, something a little different

[ElleKitty]

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised at the British effort.  I was expecting something utterly drab and unpretentious.  Now, we'll just have to see how the coins  hold up through circulation.  They really don't seem like they'll look so nice after a few uses in a vending machine.   ^^

[TwoShadows]

Well the coin collectors who collect ALL the denominations may be thrilled but personally I think this idea will flop and do it very quickly. If you are a collector of a specific denomination you are going to have a pretty butt ugly reverse, over and over, every year. I too am under impressed with this "pop" art move and do expect more from the British mint.

[scottishmoney]

I had seen the Monnaie de Paris 2003 series of 5 half ounce and full ounce coins with Lance Armstrong winning the tour de France about a 100 times before somebody thought it necessary to mention that all the coins together formed a chain 

Where are the steroids?

[Paint Your Wagon]

I had seen the Monnaie de Paris 2003 series of 5 half ounce and full ounce coins with Lance Armstrong winning the tour de France about a 100 times before somebody thought it necessary to mention that all the coins together formed a chain 

Where are the steroids?

Metabolised 

[longnine009]

I like the idea at least it's different, even radical for the BRM.  But so too was the Jefferson off-set nickel.  I liked that design a lot until I realized  I  was still looking at  a dead politician with a new embalming. The British will still be looking at Mum on the obverse of their coins. I think she's a good Queen for sure. So good, I doubt  she has a heir that can step into her shoes. But don't the British get tired of seeing the same thing on their obverse coins, decade after freaking decade?

 It's the same with our dead politicians. Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson were wonderful leaders, IMO, but really, I'm sick of looking at them. 

IMO, people have no interest in what's on our circulating money because they are sick and tired of OVER LORDS/LARDS.

If the BRM and U.S Mint really want to get radical, then here's a suggestion: Put fictional "radicals" on circulating coins--anti Over Lord  "radicals."  How about an artist's conception of Winston Smith from  Orwell's 1984 on the obverse of British circulating coins. How about the same from Atlas Shrugged on U.S Coins.
 
The two mints could even partner together on this, call it the Oceania Project for better cartoons on coins. We might, just might get to hear a cartoon Over LARD on Capitol Hill ask:      "Who's John Galt?" 
"Why does the public like him so much? We should  form a committee to study this."

[TwoShadows]

I guess I just have trouble looking at a part of something when they could have put it ALL on each coin? I can't help but wonder what some new collectors, who may enter the hobby, will think about their first British coins? It would be like us putting a fraction of the Lincoln Memorial on each coin? Where's the reasoning?

[Sap]

I suspect it's a plot to get the British public so fed up and disillusioned with the pound that the euro starts to look good... 

[TwoShadows]

I don't understand how the pound has remained so strong and dominate for all these years? I just finished reading a story on the huge ROAR that has gone up in England over the removal of Britannia from their coinage. Seems the end may not be as near as they thought as 10 percent of their congressmen are already in favor of over turning the changes. This may get interesting before its all over as it has turned into a political tactic and Britannia is a huge symbol that will probably win out in the end and the politicians know that! Not to mention it will get VOTES!!! Will have to keep an eye on this one!

[Paint Your Wagon]

The pound is not strong
In the sixties I paid 143 Belgian francs for a pound
Todays equivalent would be 60 francs to a pound

I know that for a few weeks in time dollar and pound where one on one

[scottishmoney]

Historical Exchange Rates

Back in the ca. mid 1980's I remember the £ sliding to about $1.03 or so.  Deep in the heart of the Thatcher era.

[longnine009]

I suspect it's a plot to get the British public so fed up and disillusioned with the pound that the euro starts to look good... 

Maybe  the 7 coins are symbolic message. All the pieces as pieces are marginalized until they become the whole. Next they'll be the "discovery set"  where each piece has a hidden word in it and when you lay them out in a line it reads:

Have   You    Hugged   Your  European  Union Today?   

That would be quite a marketing idea wouldn't it?  They could even put other messages in  7 coin "discovery sets" to capitalize on peoples' supposed paranoia. People would have to collect thousands of coins to get all the messages.

Have     you     hugged   the    spy   camera today?


You    should    you     sure  paid   enough  for it

[TwoShadows]

I sure would like to see that time again so I wouldn't feel so darn ripped off everytime I buy something from England. Seems to me I have always paid almost double for everything compared to the rest of the world!

[scottishmoney]

Notice that Scotland was relegated to the lowly coins, surely demonstrative of their position whilst remaining a part of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha realm.  I had hoped by now that mine brethren in the northern domains of Great Britain shall have thrown off the yoke of Anglish humiliation, perhaps this will be one more spur to the arses of freedom and self determination.

I better not say too much, or the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's will not let me in a couple of months hence, whence I shall raid Carlisle from the north of Hadrian's public works experiment.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Historical Exchange Rates

Back in the ca. mid 1980's I remember the £ sliding to about $1.03 or so.  Deep in the heart of the Thatcher era.

In the late nineties a la 2000 it has been one on one for some time too

I was in Florida at the time of the first shuttle launch and the dollar had dropped from 50 francs to 27 at the time so I
had a lot of fun those three weeks in Florida