Welcome to coin collecting - a fascinating and rewarding
hobby
Coins are all around us, in a huge variety of types and values,
not just here in Britain but in countries all over the world.
There are 28 billion circulating in this country alone! Your
collecting adventure could take you across the country, across the
world - and back into the mists of time.
A long way back - the first coins date back to 700 BC.
You'll learn to "read" coins and discover how kings and queens
liked to be seen. Like Queen Victoria - whose head image
showing her as a young woman was used on coins until she was an old
woman! Or ancient Roman Brutus, who issued coins to celebrate his
assassination of Julius Caesar. Or the image of Britannia on
early Romano-British coins, startlingly like modern Britannia!
Without trying you'll find yourself picking up a wealth of
knowledge about geography, history, economics, politics, in a way
that brings dry-as-dust facts to vivid life.
You'll discover the way the gold sovereign came to be the coin
that conquered the world! How the Royal Mint rose from humble
origins to be a world famous institution. The very important
differences between Proof, Uncirculated, Very Fine and Fine.
It's a world of fascination and discovery waiting for you. Go
ahead and find out more!
Where to start?
The great thing about coin collecting is that you collect what
you want, when you want it, at your own pace, spending what you can
afford. For a start, reach into your pocket or purse and take
out a handful of coins. There will be different values -
perhaps pence, two pence, five pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence,
one pound, and two pounds. They will have different dates on
them. They may have different portraits on them - the present
Queen, Elizabeth II, has had four different portraits on her coins
(interestingly, for the only time in our long, long history, all
circulating legal tender coins will only have the head of one
monarch on them, a consequence of decimalisation). And they
will all be in different condition - rather battered, probably,
from being in your pocket or purse.
You can start right there, collecting circulating UK coins, from
the change you handle, trying to build complete sets and
dates. Later you might want to add coins that are in perfect
condition - proof or uncirculated - that you don't get in your
change. Or go deep into history - many Roman coins have been
unearthed over the years, and are surprisingly affordable. Or
you could save particular sorts of coins - pre-decimal pennies,
say, or sovereigns. One fascinating field is to collect
"commemorative" coins, struck to celebrate a particular event or
anniversary. The first step, though, is to establish a
relationship with a coin dealer you can trust.
Collecting Sovereigns: risks and rewards
You're no doubt aware that the price of gold has increased by
hundreds of percent over the past ten years. This is good
news for anyone who has been collecting gold sovereigns, but it has
also placed them beyond the reach of many. If you can afford
them, should you still buy sovereigns (or other gold coins, such as
Krugerrands or American Eagles)? First, let us stress that this
website is not about collecting for investment, it's about
collecting for pleasure, perhaps to pass on for the enjoyment and
education of future generations.
The sovereign's progress
Bearing that in mind, here's a little background information on
the sovereign. It was first issued in England
in 1489, though the modern sovereign containing 7.988 grams of
22-carat gold dates from 1817. After stopping production in
1917, the Royal Mint started sovereign production in 1957,
producing bullion sovereigns mainly for investors, with a special
"500th Anniversary of the Sovereign" proof issue in 1989.
"Bullion" sovereigns are essentially sold for their gold content
value, plus a dealer's premium.
The Royal Mint strikes "Proof" sovereigns in limited numbers for collectors -
see the section on "Proof, brilliant uncirculated, uncirculated,
VF" for more information on coin condition. Often they
commemorate some special event. The Royal Mint annually
issues limited numbers of full sets of gold coins - half-sovereign,
sovereign, £2, and £5 gold coins, which make a spectacular addition
to your collection - or a once-in-a-lifetime gift.
Proof, uncirculated, VF? Condition is (almost)
everything!
Looking at the change in your pocket, you can see that some are
probably bright and new looking, while others are rather worn and
battered. For collectors, the condition of a coin is almost
as important as date - the difference in price between a coin in
"Fine" condition and one in "Uncirculated" condition can be ten
times or more. The grading system commonly used in the UK
is:
- Poor (considerably worn, of little value to
the collector unless of very rare type or date).
- Fair (Worn but with dates and legends still
visible).
- Fine (Abbreviation F: Considerably worn on
raised surfaces, caused by circulation or faulty striking in older
coins).
- Very Fine (VF: some limited circulation
wear).
- Extremely Fine (EF very little circulation or
wear, only visible on close examination).
- Uncirculated (UNC: in new condition fresh from
the mint, probably not absolutely perfect because of mass
production and handling methods).
- Brilliant Uncirculated (FDC: absolutely
flawless, produced and handled apart from the main coin production
line - sometimes known as "Fleur-de-Coin").
- "Proof" coins are produced in limited
quantities (called an "Edition Limit") in a separate process from
that used to produce circulation coins. They are struck
several times with special highly polished dies and usually have a
mirror lustre back ground, with frosted relief.
Building your knowledge
These aren't hard and fast rules and even experts might disagree
on marginal differences. As you build your knowledge and
examine more coins, you'll learn to recognize and assess coin
quality. It's a good idea to get a good magnifying glass to examine
your coins for signs of wear and damage and assess their
condition.
There are many excellent books on general and specialist aspects
of coin collecting and your local museum will probably have a coin
collection. The Internet is also an excellent source of
information, though the quality and accuracy is sometimes
unreliable.
The importance of a "friend in the trade"
A small error in striking or a rare mint mark can hugely
increase the value of a coin. This has led to unscrupulous
people altering and forging coins and offering them for sale to
unsuspecting collectors. Dealing on the internet needs
particular care, with many tempting offers being not all they
seem.
There are of course many highly reputable coin dealers who
employ experts to vet their offerings carefully. The Westminster Collection is one of the
largest and best established of UK collector-facing
companies. The company was founded by Stephen Allen in 1987
(although its roots through Harry Allen go back to 1945).
Bringing you advance notice of sell-out issues
The Westminster Collection is an authorised
distributor for the Royal Mint and principal UK agent for several
of the world's leading mints. This means that you will
receive prior notice of popular mint issues which are likely to
sell out quickly. When you buy from Westminster, not only do
you have complete quality assurance, not only do you enjoy
interest-free credit, you also have the right to return any
purchase within 30 days, for whatever reason, without
question.
For the beginner or experienced collector, Westminster provides a
safe and rewarding path on your collecting journey.
Coins through the ages
The great thing about coins is that they last a long time -
especially if they are made of gold. Which means that we have still
have the first ever coins from Lydia (now in modern Turkey) minted
around 650 BC. From there they were spread by the Greeks and Romans
around the known world, including Britain. Coins circulated in
Celtic Britain, but the Roman occupation from 43 AD to about 410
AD, brought in a flood of Roman coins and later, coins from local
mints. After the Romans left Britons went back to bartering. Not
until the 7th century did the dominant Anglo Saxons start minting
coins.
Hammered coins
At this time all coins were made in roughly the same way: you
started with a round blank - made of gold, silver, copper, bronze
or a mixture. You put this on a die (a piece of hardened metal
engraved with a reversed-out pattern. You put another die on top.
Then you hit the top die with a hammer. Finally you remove your
finished coin. Simple. You've got what's known as a "hammered"
coin, for obvious reasons.
The milling revolution
Hammering persisted until the sixteenth century, when a new
method was tried in France. It was known as "milling", using a
screw press rather hammering, and produced coins of much better
consistency and quality, although at first it was slower than
hammering. For the next century it was tried intermittently in
Britain but only fully replaced hammering after the 1660
restoration to the throne of Charles II. Coinage had entered the
machine age. The next leap forward came in 1796 when Matthew
Boulton used his steam engine to power a new coin press. Just in
time for the Royal Mint to meet the massive demands of the great
recoinage of 1816!
Goodbye gold, silver and pennies - hello decimalisation
This brought in "token coinage" - coins with intrinsic value
less than their face value. Even so, gold and silver coins still
circulated in Britain until 1917 when gold was withdrawn. The last
silver coins were replaced with cupro-nickel in 1947. Then in 1971
came the end of centuries of tradition when £sd (12 pence to the
shilling, 20 shillings to the pound) was replaced by a new decimal
based coinage, which we have today, at least for the time
being.
Specialise or generalise?
You can get great fun and satisfaction from simply collecting
any coins that take your fancy, be they ancient or modern, struck
from gold, silver or base metal, from the Royal Mint or exotic
mints around the world. A place on the Westminster Collection
mailing list will bring you regular details of fascinating coins of
all kinds. Alternatively you can specialise in a particular type of
coin. You could choose current UK coins - you can get examples of
most current non-precious metal coins in uncirculated condition for
a few pounds or even less.
You can opt for commemorative coins - special issues from the
Royal Mint and others that commemorate great events such as royal weddings or the 2012 London Olympics, special anniversaries
like D-Day and great people such as Winston Churchill. Or you could
concentrate on historic coins. Although the rarest coins are
probably best left to museums and millionaires, even very old ones
are surprisingly affordable. The Romans were great coiners in the
near 4 centuries they occupied Britain - and great hoarders of
coins, too, whenever a crisis loomed. As a result, hoards of Roman
coins are still being turned up by archaeologists and metal
detectors. Collecting these old coins, handled by legionnaires,
wine merchants and peasants almost 2,000 years ago is a unique
experience.
Displaying and protecting your coin
collection
As you add to your coin collection, it will obviously become
more valuable and you will want to protect it. Normally your
collection should be covered by your household insurance, but if
you have high value coins - and many established collectors,
especially of gold coins, will have seen them leap in value - you
should notify your insurers. They might insist you keep them in the
bank. But as a newcomer you'll be more concerned with protecting
your coins while storing and displaying them so you can enjoy them.
Avoid keeping coins jumbled together, as they will scratch and
damage each other. At the Westminster Collection we normally supply
all coins in some form of protective capsule, sleeve or
presentation case, depending on the value of the coin.
Albums with protective transparent sleeves, including individual
coin envelopes, are a good low cost starting point, protecting your
coins while allowing you to examine them. You can later progress to
plastic or wooden display cases, which are both handsome and
practical. When storing copper or bronze coins it's important to
keep them in a dry atmosphere, since damp may turn them green. For
that reason don't wash copper coins. In fact, avoid cleaning if
possible, since even minute abrasion can affect values. Dirty gold
and silver can be gently washed in soap and water. Avoid handling
coins, but if you need to, handle them by the edges, not the
face.
Coin Talk - A few useful coin collecting
terms
- Obverse - the side of the coin with the
monarch's head - hence "Heads"
- Reverse - the other side, "Tails", usually
bearing an emblem or other design
- Type - the main design on a coin
- Field - the part of a coin between the Type
and Legend or edge
- Legend - the words around the edge of a coin,
often the monarchs name and a motto or title.
- Exergue - the section of a coin containing the
date, usually on the reverse below the main design.
- Die - the block of hardened metal with a
design or effigy engraved on it, used to impress the design onto a
coin blank
- Hammered Coin - the earliest method of
striking a coin, by placing a coin blank between two dies and
hammering the top die. Used in Britain up to 1662.
- Milled Coin - a machine made coin struck
in a coining press. First used in 1560, hand powered, steam powered
from c.1800, electrically powered from 1895.
- Mint - an organisation authorised to strike
coins and medals. The British Royal Mint is one of the oldest and
most respected in the world. Its roots go back to 7th century Anglo
Saxon times.
- Condition - the state of wear on a coin,
graded in Britain from "Poor" or very worn, to "Uncirculated", or
fresh from the mint.
- Proof - not a coin grade or condition but a
type of coin, struck using polished dies in a separate minting
process, to produce an immaculate coin.
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