When it comes to missed opportunities and wrong decisions, there have been a good many with UK coin releases. Today I am going to list just a few things which (as far as I am concerned) I see as being major cock-ups. So here we go…..
‘Paddington’
When I first heard about ‘Paddington’ coins being released and (MASSIVE BONUS STUFF) that they would be going into circulation I was genuinely excited. But oh God no…. Instead of using the proper old retro Paddy we all know and love from our childhoods, they used (blech!) the ‘Paddington’ from the bloody modern movie.
Great! So, now we have four coins in circulation with a character who looks more like a dog with a habit of chasing parked cars. Yes, it is the flat-faced CGI version which really doesn’t look a whole lot like a bear at all.
‘A-Z’ 10p’s
Having the alphabet on fifty pences rather than ten pences would have been so much better. Sure, it is quirky to involve a different denomination, but fifty pences are (and always will be) the coin that is most commonly collected.
It would also have spiced things up considerably if people had SOME FERKIN CHANCE OF FINDING ONE! And this was/is not purely down to low mintage; it was also to do with distribution. After all, there were thousands of them to be had at the ‘Olde Royal Mint Tea Shoppe’…..
‘Alice’
‘Alice in Wonderland’ £5 coins are so, so pretty – especially the colour versions. Now imagine just how nice they would have been on fifty pences instead. Not only that, many others could have been created too!
There are loads of beautiful John Tenniel illustrations, yet only two of these were used. I also think they would have been extremely popular. If they had gone out into circulation, I can imagine they would have been very much like ‘Phase I’ of the Beatrix Potter coins from 2016. Which leads me to………
‘Peter Rabbit’
A few years back it was a whole lot of fun trying to find five different fifty pences to complete a set (especially when it came to that elusive Duck!). It was great and everyone was still buzzing when the 2017 ones were declared.
Unfortunately, it took months before any of these began to show up in everyday change and the designs were also nowhere near as good…. And then, in 2018 it became clear that The Royal Mint were doing the whole thing to death. This wave of releases meant THIRTEEN designs were now in circulation! But it didn’t end there either…..
More ‘Peter Rabbit’s were to follow. But these were ‘purchase only’ items. Two more to be precise. And it still didn’t end there…. After this they saw it necessary to create two FIVE POUND ‘Peter Rabbit’ coins as well! God help us all if there are any more to follow. We really are kind of sick of it all now! It began so well but went far too far 🙁 Overkill anyone???
‘Dinosaurs’
Now this could really have been something special.
The first error (in my humble opinion) was to choose three dinos no-one had heard of and even fewer people could pronounce. The second wrong choice was to (yet again) release them as ‘purchase only’ items. I mean, kids would have loved looking for these in their parents loose change! This all happened in 2020……
And in 2021 three more giant lizard coins were released….. each one of these no-one had heard of and even fewer people could pronounce. And (yet again, again) these were ‘purchase only’ items. Hmmm….. déjà vu……
The result of it all? Well, no other collectors I know really mention any of the ‘Dinosaur’ coins and there is about as much of a buzz about them as a heap of dead bumble bees. Basically, it would seem, they are destined to be extinct 🙁
© Article copyright Mik Smith 2022
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