Heraldry in my Pocket_To my chagrin,....

Heraldry in my Pocket

To my chagrin, I had of late noticed new UK coins appearing in my meagre Associate Lecturer's salary but until I saw Nicholas Moon's blog post here I had no idea what it was all about. Now I am deeply impressed! (Just take a close look at the photograph).

Needless to say I emptied my pockets, searched the back of the sofa and bullied the kids into giving back their lunch money in order to create my own collection and confirm that this is indeed the case...

From left to right and top to bottom the coins and their values are:

10 pence (about 17 US cents)
2 pence (about 1 US cent)
1 penny (exists only so cashiers can give change for £99.99 items)
5 pence (about 3 US cents)
20 pence (32 US cents)
50 pence (80 US cents)
One pound ($1.60)

We also have a two pound coin but I don't have any of those at the moment so I don't know whether they are part of the deal.

The overall image (and that on the one pound) are of course the arms of Great Britain, Quarterly, first and fourth ENGLAND, second SCOTLAND, third IRELAND (for reasons I will go into another time, poor old WALES has never featured in the British Arms)

Thanks for the Blog post Nicholas, and hats off to the Royal Mint!

http://nicholasmoon.co.uk/2013/technology/i-have-the-royal-coat-of-arms-on-my-coinage-get-out-more/

I Have The Royal Coat Of Arms On My Coinage – Get Out More!