Britain issues 26 10-pence designs

What do James Bond and the Loch Ness monster have in common? Each has been selected to appear on a 2018 10-pence coin recently released by the British Royal Mint.

It took the U.S. Mint from 1999 through 2008 to issue quarters honoring each of the 50 states. It will take the United Kingdom a single year to release circulating commemorative 10-pence coins representing each of the 26 letters in the alphabet.

Everyone appears to have a label to put on the idea. The Telegraph newspaper called the ideal “quintessentially British.”

In a statement released by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, the coins were described as “The A to Z of what makes Britain great.”

Director of the Royal Mint Museum Dr. Kevin Clancy said of the concept, “It’s the granularity of British life celebrated on the coinage.”

“This is a departure from the standard way in which The Royal Mint has celebrated what is great about Britain in the past,” according to Clancy. “We have marked great events, celebrated engineers, politicians, and of course, royalty.”

It appears there may be something here for everybody – well, almost. Cricket rather than football or rugby was chosen to represent sports, while “K” for King Arthur rather than “Q” for queen was selected to represent monarchy (“Q” is represented by queuing). Collectors may want to note the entire 26-coin issue is limited to a mintage of 2.6 million, or 100,000 of each coin.

Chief executive officer of the British Royal Mint Anne Jessopp said, “The themes all reflect quirky and well-loved aspects of British life. ... There is a lot to be proud of in the United Kingdom – whether it’s at the highest level, our houses of Parliament representing democracy and freedom of speech, technological advancements such as Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web, or just a good cup of tea, it’s all here in the designs.”

The reverse themes to the coins (Queen Elizabeth II appears on the obverse of each one) are as follows:

A – Angel of the North

B – Bond... James Bond

C – Cricket

D – Double-decker bus

E – English breakfast

F – Fish and chips

G – Greenwich mean time

H – Houses of Parliament

I – Ice cream cone

J – Jubilee

K – King Arthur

L – Loch Ness Monster

M – Mackintosh

N – National Health Service

O – Oak tree

P – Post box

Q – Queuing

R – Robin

S – Stonehenge

T – Tea pot

U – Union flag

V – Village

W – World wide web

X – X marks the spot

Y – Yeoman

Z – Zebra crossing

More Collecting Resources

• The Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000 is your guide to images, prices and information on coinage of the 1900s.

• Any coin collector can tell you that a close look is necessary for accurate grading. Check out this USB microscope today!