King Alfred the Great was the first King of England to use his coinage to commemorate an event in his reign. In 886AD he occupied the city of London and shortly after he produced a coin with LONDON spelled out in a monogram so that all his subjects would know that he was the King of England who reclaimed the capital.
This use of coinage to spread news of an event dates back to Roman times. The beauty of using coinage is that virtually the whole of the population uses it, and more importantly they look at it when they use it. Even today, while some people may not read newspapers and others do not use the internet, everyone uses coinage.
The commemorative in our era
In Britain the Royal Mint supervises the issue of commemorative coinage and they ensure that it is used to celebrate events, people and achievements of national importance, rather than just for political pronouncements.
However, the role of money has changed in our modern society and with it so too has people’s expectations of commemorative coins. While many are happy to save one of each new coin from circulation, many people want - and demand - exclusive editions of these special coins that have a value far beyond that of just the face value of the coin.
To meet that demand the Royal Mint now has a special facility which is separate to the regular production area in which skilled craftsmen produce limited editions, most of them in sterling silver and struck to Proof standards, producing some of the finest commemorative coins in the world.
Coins that may look familiar enough - but isn’t the colour wrong? Some of the coins we handle every day have been released as limited editions in sterling silver and struck magnificently to Proof standards.Continue to full London Mint Office British Commemorative Coins Guide
