You may or may not have heard of ‘The Mandela Effect’. Basically this is supposed to be where things that used to be a certain way have changed without anyone realising. This ‘effect’ was first noted by Fiona Broome (a ‘Paranormal Consultant’) who insisted she could remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison during the 1980s. After making her memory public, she was shocked to learn that thousands of other people remembered it like this too….. whilst the rest of the world insisted he died in 2013.
Whether or not this is evidence of a parallel world or just some bizarre psychological phenomenon remains to be seen….. Interestingly, since ‘The Mandela Effect’ was first brought to everyone’s attention, many other instances have come to light. Did the girl with plaits in ‘Moonraker’ have teeth like Jaws….. or not? And can you really believe Darth Vader never said, ‘Luke, I am your father’???
Anyhow, like I say, there have been examples. But until today, no-one has provided any coin-related ones. Well fear not, for I am here to put the record straight!
2019 ‘Royal Shield Section’ 50p
Originally only 467 of these coins were minted. And that is how it stayed….. until sometime in September 2021. This was when everyone woke up and there were suddenly a few more of these in circulation than there had been.
Yes, for no apparent reason this number had changed from 467…….. to 873,009,023,450,003. Needless to say, this also meant a big change to the value of the 2019 Royal Shield on the secondary market. So lots of eBay sellers had to revise their listings quickly as a result :/
2012 ‘Green Cross Code Man’ £2
It seems only a handful of people can remember this one. Back in 2012, The Royal Mint released their first batch of colour £2 coins. These bore the image of the Green Cross Code man, the popular 1970’s bastion of Health and Safety.
It isn’t clear when, but at some point these morphed into a standard bi-metallic design; the ‘Charles Dickens’ design by Matt Dent to be precise.
I would hasten a guess that if you were to contact The Royal Mint and ask them about their ‘Green Cross Code Man’ coin they’d more than likely be just as confused as everyone else. But this just makes it all the more frustrating for those of us who can remember it!
2009 ‘Kew Gardens’ 50p
One of the most impressive ‘Mandela Effect’ examples of all has to be the ‘Kew Gardens’ 50p…..
Upon its release in 2009, not only did collectors clamour after it because of there being a small amount; the idea of having a coin with Maccy D’s on it also really appealed. Yes, before it changed, the ‘Kew Gardens’ 50p was a ‘McKew Gardens’ 50p – complete with a small eatery at the base of the famous pagoda. The sudden absence of this restaurant along with different wording on the coin seems to have come about some time in the last few years.
2021 Dinosaur 50p’s
Back when they were initially released, the three 2021 ‘Dinosauria’ 50p’s all had names people could pronounce. These also happened to include old time favourites such as ‘T-Rex’ and ‘Brontosaurus’. Kids were ecstatic and just about everyone in the country wanted one.
Unfortunately, all of this changed a few weeks after they came out. On that fateful day all three of these coins changed dramatically. Sure, they still had giant lizards on them…. but these now had even more giant names.
Because the change occurred so soon after the time of release, none of the original designs got out. And anyone who had ordered and was expecting a nice ‘Pterodactyl’ coin was bitterly disappointed upon opening their parcel. Instead, they ended up with a ‘Diamorphodon’ that looked very much like it was weeing as it arced its way across the Jurassic sky.
And there you have it; as you can see, ‘The Mandela Effect’ has had a profound impact on UK coinage with some genuinely unsettling results. So beware! When new coins are released, do not take things for granted. Just as the mintage for ‘The Great Fire of London’ mysteriously changed from 5,135,000 to 1,625,000 (there is an article about this below), so can many other things.
Take care and watch yourself out there……
MAIN IMAGE – created by me in honour of Rod Serling
‘MOONRAKER’ IMAGE – reblogged from peoplesrepublicofcork.com
© Article copyright Mik Smith 2022
I remember colouring in The Green Cross Code man posters at school 🙂
Hahahahha. Yes, me too!
Yes, me too lol 😀