Taking the P*ss (or….. Milking and Flogging a Dead Horse Until it is Bled Dry and Done to Death)

In 2016 something changed in Britain.  Quite suddenly and out of nowhere (or so it appeared) came a national obsession with coin hunting and collecting.  Of course, numismatics had always appealed to a few people, but it had never been such a common pastime.

Coincidentally (almost as coincidentally and ‘coincidentally’ having ‘coin’ at the start of it) it was also at this same time that The Royal Mint released the first five coins in their Beatrix Potter collection.  How uncanny!  Businesses have long understood how lucrative a franchise can be and it was at this same point that The Royal Mint finally jumped on the bandwagon too.  Sure, they may have missed out on masses of extra in profits for decades by neglecting to notice the franchise route but…… in 2016 all came good and they have never looked back since.  Sheer (somewhat delayed) genius!

 

{ A little girl milking a cow yesterday – image reblogged from sandcreekfarm.net }

 

So why was there a dramatically increased amount of interest in coins back then?  What on earth possessed so many people to immerse themselves in numismatics?  Well, I for one can remember it all very well.  I can also remember being very much aware of what was going on at the time.  Enter……… our media.

 

‘Sure, they may have missed out on masses of extra in profits for decades by neglecting to notice the franchise route but…… in 2016 all came good and they have never looked back since.  Sheer (somewhat delayed) genius!’

 

Yes, in 2016 all major British comics (aka ‘tabloids’) were suddenly filled with people becoming remarkably rich simply because they had found super-valuable coins in their everyday change.  HUNDREDS of stories were run in this vein and THOUSANDS of people read these and believed every word.  Needless to say this drove a huge amount of traffic over to The Royal Mint website.  So much traffic that it actually locked their site up at least once when new releases first went on sale.  So lots of lovely lolly for our friends over at RM – and mainly down to the media and the stories they were publishing.  Hmmm……. very convenient that.  Almost as though the whole thing had been planned in advance somehow……  But of course, there is no known evidence to suggest any deals between parties involved or anything fishy going on.

Sardine sandwich anyone?

 

{ A sardine sandwich yesterday – image reblogged from thailand1dollarmeals.com }

 

All in all, 2016 was a very important year for RM and it really gave things a jolly good bump start.  Profits were up considerably and sales went from strength to strength.  This period had taught everyone involved some extremely important lessons indeed.  So….. after some long meetings and ‘heads together’ sessions over at RMHQ, more cunning ideas were formed and the future slowly began to take shape…….. yes, dripping in erudite thinking a huge decision was made – The Royal Mint would make MORE Beatrix Potter coins!

 

  And more.

  And more.

  AND MORE!

 

Yup, it is now six years on and The Royal Mint are STILL making Beatrix Potter coins.  Amazing.  However, on the up side the merits of franchise have in no way been forgotten so there are now many other coin series to collect too –

Winnie the Pooh – kind of took over from where Beatrix Potter left off (but only available to buy (crafty!)

Paddington Bear – kind of tried to take over from where Beatrix Potter left off but kind of failed too.  Circulated like Potter but pants lacklustre pictures and a far smaller target audience meant they basically crashed and burned

The Gruffalo – similar to Paddington but with bigger teeth.  If you imagine a couple of coins done in a copy and trace format that are (no big surprise) purchase only them you pretty much have these weighed up

The Snowman – short of ideas??? Hmmmm.  I know we will copy IOM coins!!! Yes, the Isle of Man were doing The Snowman years before but that has not stopped The Royal Mint attempting to now turn them into a festive numismatic tradition here too

Dinosaurs (TWO lots) – a great idea as children (especially boys on the whole) just love giant lizards!  But this probably went the way of the pear a bit when RM (in their infinite wisdom) opted to use dinosaurs that were a) unpronounceable and b) no-one (let alone a child) had even heard of.  What was so wrong with T-Rex or Brontosaurus????

 

{ A dead horse yesterday – image reblogged from shutterstock.com }

 

And it wasn’t just fifty pences that got the ‘franchise treatment’ either.  The new Royal Mint push was £5 coins.  A denomination that had basically been reserved for yawny royal coins and such was quickly seen as a great vehichle for sets and themes.  So since that hollowed year we have had –

The Queens Beasts, Chinese Lunar Years, James Bond, Mr Men, Alice in Wonderland, Beatrix Potter (I know this is a shock), The Tower of London, Music Legends.  It goes on and on and on and on……….

 

F – R – A – N – C – H – I – S – E

 

That is now the buzz word over at The Royal Mint and it has been for the last six years.  In board meetings it will be used both emphatically and excessively.  It may have taken a jolly and bizarrely long time to cotton on but….. better late than never!

Meanwhile as collectors, we will just keep paying for these coins (and hope that one day far more are actually released) and put them away in our collection even if they do just look like mass-produced, rush-job, cheap and nasty, seaside novelty tokens  🙂

 

© Article is copyright of Ghost Writer 2022

(an anonymous writer who lives in fear of being vaporised by lofty powers purely because of his opinions)