News & Blog

Rule Britannia! FOR some of you the news that the Britannia Medal Fair has been taken over by auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb will be greeted with much delight. The event has become something of an institution in the medal world and knowing that its future is now secure will have been as welcomed as...

Always learning THE discovery of a hitherto unknown variety of 1806 halfpence (see “Discoveries” this month on page 30) begs a rather important question: Are there any more out there like this and if so how many? The ha’penny, discovered in Scotland, has the reverse with a 120° die axis...

A coin for Brexit? AS we go to press we learn of a call from some MPs for the Royal Mint to strike a “Brexit” coin to commemorate our leaving the European Union next year (this assuming we do, let’s not get into that right now…). Following what is being called by some as a “demand” for the...

We have been informed of the theft of the medals of a former member of the R.E.M.E. The theft took place in Derby from his home in May 2018, Afghanistan medal medal issued to 30062968 Cpl A. Bloomer R.E.M.E and his UN Cyprus medal and other related items. Any information please contact PC Paul...

Why do they matter? THE recent call by Lord Guthrie and assorted others for there to be yet another look at the case for a Bomber Command Medal (see News & Views) shows that this matter really will not go away any time soon. One would imagine that the Bomber Command Veterans feel that if they...

Modern thinking THE striking of a commemorative £5 crown to celebrate the marriage of one Henry Windsor and Ms Rachel Markle on May 19 is notable for a couple of reasons. Firstly the subject is relatively far down the Royal “pecking order” (as it were) with previous Royals to grace coinage being...

Happy birthday to us! I MAKE no apologies this month in using this “Comment” as an unabashed self-congratulations (although I will apologise to readers of COIN NEWS who will have seen a version of this already!) for as I write this in early April Token Publishing Ltd is about to celebrate its 35th...

Happy Birthday to us! I MAKE no apologies this month in using this “Comment” as an unabashed selfcongratulations, for as I write this in early April Token Publishing Ltd is about to celebrate its 35th anniversary. Somehow three and a half decades have flown by since the company was first...

Reach for the skies APRIL 1, 2018 marks the centenary of the formation of the Royal Air Force with the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (the Army’s aerial force) and the Royal Naval Air Service (the Naval equivalent)—making the RAF the oldest independent air force in the world. The formation...

“T” is for Tea O IS for Oak, K is King Arthur, E is English Breakfast and N stands for the NHS. What am I talking about you ask? Well some of you will have guessed that I am referring to the latest coin programme from the Royal Mint called “The Great British Coin Hunt”—a series of 26 10 pence...

A rookie mistake SINCE last year when I announced that I was selling my collection, both in order to finance a big purchase and to start a new theme, I have been inundated with questions about my decision and about the sale itself and now that collection has, mostly, gone under the hammer, I will...

Out with the old—but quickly THE big news this month is, of course, the scrapping of the old “paper” £10 note. The note, featuring Charles Darwin, was introduced in November 2000 and is being replaced by the new Polymer Jane Austen note introduced just last September and those of you who care...

Backwards facing THIS month’s News and Views features the story of Chips, the husky-crossbreed awarded the latest Dickin Medal by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). The “Animal VC” (yes we know it’s not actuallythe same as a Victoria Cross but it is the highest award for gallantry...

When is a coin not a coin? OK, let’s put this to bed once and for all—COIN NEWS will not be covering Bitcoin in any depth . . . these days it is one of the questions that seems to be on everybody’s lips when I mention coins—they immediately ask whether I know anything about cryptocurrency. I’ve...

Stolen from a home in West Norwood early in the New Year: Diamond Jubilee Medal and Afghanistan Medal named to LT RP Fielden RA Crime ref: 1238372/17 Information to the Metropolitan Police Brixton via 101 or the MEDAL NEWS office

Thinking ahead SINCE last month’s Editorial “Comment” I have received a number of (not for publication) letters and emails explaining the reason why you, the readers, collect coins and I was quite surprised at how many of you admit to collecting as some kind of investment. You see coins both as a...

Looking ahead AFTER much fevered speculation (OK, it wasn’t that fevered but questions were being asked) the Orders and Medals Research Society (OMRS) have announced that the 2018 Convention will take place in the East Midlands City of Nottingham. Convention moved out of London in 2016 and has...

Just because AT A RECENT local social gathering I was asked, as one often is, what my interests were —when I replied “coin collecting” I expected one of three usual responses: either the glazed-over eyes accompanied by the fixed smile, a “that’s interesting” and a quick subject change; the “oh, I...