Olympic Review: Rowing and Cycling

by Lizzie

I really loved the sit down sports at the Olympics. In fact, so did the athletes it seemed to be our biggest medal haul. Everyone was saying at the time "the British Olympians are great at sitting down sports".

Anyway, my point is, I really enjoyed the cycling and rowing. I didn't think I would ever come across these two coins so was pleased to finally get them in my change in recent weeks.

The rowing coin (designed by David Podmore) is a bit dodgy quite frankly. What's all that weird text about "Excellence, friendship, fair play, friendship, respect, excellence, fair play"? Okay we get it, it's about team work, but isn't any team sport? I'd prefer to have seen the slogan "there's no 'I' in team". The boat's nice though isn't it? 

The cycling coin is brilliant (designed by Theo Crutchley-Mack). I love the clean lines and the impression of speed the image manages to convey. It's what I like to call "a good coin". Isn't Bradley Wiggins brilliant? And Chris Hoy! Laura Trott's gold. And Victoria Pendleton going into retirement... I loved watching Chris Hoy deliver his emotional interview after he had won his final gold. Then they brought out the Redgrave to congratulate him, who had till that point held the record for the most decorated Olympian of all time [I could have made this up, I'm note sure. Perhaps more research was in order!].

The rowing was on a similar emotionally evocative par with the cycling. So many highs and lows and every race I watched was really quite thrilling. Particularly the men's cox-less doubles which really was heart-wrenching to watch the interview after the race followed by the women's cox-less doubles. What a wonderful televisual moment that was. It was really great to see the women do so well in this for the first time.

In all, 12 medals were awarded for to GB for cycling and 9 for rowing.

The Anna Boxer Birthday Collection

Few things say "Britain" quite like Anna Boxer, who in her lifetime has become synonymous with the spirit of this country. She is almost an institution in her own right and if she were ever lost to us, there would undoubtedly be an outpouring of grief all across this land.

It is surprising then, that there has never been a coin collection to commemorate the mark she has made and the contribution she has given to the human race. That is until now.

Today is Anna's birthday and to mark this occasion, a special commemorative coin collection has been commissioned. The most respected designers and engravers were tasked with creating a set of coins that represented the essence of Anna and her passions. First up is the centrepiece of the collection - the Anna Boxer two pound coin.

Anna Louise Boxer was born on this day not so long ago at a healthy weight of 9lb 1oz. Her parents, having thought that she was going to be a boy, had chosen the name Al, after "Weird Al" Yankovic. Three hours after the birth, they quickly realised their mistake and used the name as initials and Al Boxer became A L Boxer. It would only be another eight years before these initials became the names she bears today - Anna Louise.

Anna was always destined for greatness. At the astonishing age of 5½, she had learnt the whole alphabet and seeing the potential, her parents immediately enrolled her in a special school. She flourished in this sensory input-rich environment and, as we all know, the rest is history.


This coin captures the natural humour and playfulness inherent in Anna and her penchant for dressing up in ridiculous costumes on a regular basis. I think we all remember the infamous "Marilyn Monroe" incident.

Next is the Chris Packham fifty pence coin.

Chris Packham was hailed recently as the new (and much better looking) David Attenborourgh.  This Charming Man has single handledly declared war on the panda nation by suggesting they are too stupid to survive evolution and should be allowed to die out causing 'panda'monium in the press. In 2008, he said he would "eat the last panda" if doing so would retrospectively redistribute the money spent on panda conservation. I think Thai green panda curry would be quite tasty!

Not just a pretty face, Chris won Celebrity Mastermind in 2011, with his specialist subject being the Battle of Rorke's Drift (the winnings he donated to Anna's favourite place for bird bothering, the Hawk Conservancy Trust, where she first met Cedric).  As well as having excellent hair, he is also a keen music fan.  In recent series' of Springwatch, he famously dropped in the names of as many Smiths and Manic Street Preacher's songs as possible. My favourite being Chris discussing the threat of cats to owl offspring he told viewers "I'm looking at that female barn owl and thinking: 'if you tolerate this, then your children will be next'".  From geek to hero -  Chris, we salute you with this coin.  

Next is the West Highland Terrier fifty pence coin.

The West Highland White Terrier Club of England describes the breed (affectionately known as Westies) in terms of its facial characteristics: "eyes set wide apart, medium in size, not full, as dark as possible and set well under heavy eyebrows", "ears small, erect and carried firmly, terminating in a sharp point, set neither too wide nor too close". These are obviously technical descriptions, but all we know is that they result in just the cutest little dogs ever!

And last, and certainly least numerically, is the Sam Gilbert one pence coin.

When deciding what value to give this coin, it was felt that one pence was an appropriate indication of the impact that Sam has had on the life of Anna. So next time you go to "spend a penny", why don't you "spend a Sam" instead?

"How do I get this collection?" we hear you ask. Well, for a limited time only, the Anna Boxer collection is available at half price! That's right - these four coins can be yours for the low low price of £34.99! If this weren't amazing enough, you will receive them in a specially designed paper presentation envelope, printed with your name and address and a free second class stamp. Get yours today!

Wishing you a very happy birthday Anna,

from mint source

Olympic Review: Football

Olympic Review: Football

by Matthew 

Where Badminton was my favourite design, I'm afraid Football (designed by Neil Wolfson) is my least favourite. Explaining the offside rule (incompletely I must pedantically add) has become quite a clichéd and tired joke that doesn't embody the essence or spirit of the sport, whereas many of the other sports' designs do. I would have chosen something that shows why people love the sport, something exciting and dynamic such as a bicycle kick goal. Something like this:

Now doesn't that just look better? :)

As far as the Olympic results go, the story for Team GB was about the same for both the Men's and the Women's teams. They both topped their group before losing in the first round of the knock-out stage.

On the Men's side, they drew in their first game against Senegal, a country not widely known for their footballing prowess, but surprising many by finishing second in the group after beating Uruguay. Team GB won their next two matches against United Arab Emirates and Uruguay to give them the 7 points needed to top the group.

In the knock-out stage, they faced up against South Korea, who held us to a 1-1 draw all the way through to penalties. And you know what we're like at penalties! The first 4 penalties for each side all went in, and on Team GB's fifth penalty poor Daniel Sturridge had his shot saved by the goal keeper. The Koreans managed to get their shot in and it was all over for Team GB.

The Women's side started off even better than their male counterparts, winning all three of their group stage matches against New Zealand, Cameroon and Brazil no less! This took them searing through to the knock-out stages looking poised to get into the semis or even the final.

Their first match would be against Canada, who had finished third in their group (since there were only three groups, two third-place teams went through to the knock-out stage to even the numbers up). This looked like a walk in the park for Team GB, but unfortunately it was not to be so. Canada got an early goal and after going 2-0 up inside 30 minutes, it was a tough uphill struggle for a deflated Team GB, who were never able to come back from that score.

Overall, I would say it was a valiant effort from both teams, just a little unlucky.

Confessions of a Coin Obsessive

Commemorative Coin Obsessions

Well, now that this Blog has finally come to fruition, I thought it best to perhaps explain a little but about why I like coins so much (insert L on forehead here). 

Having come from a family where at least 2 members saw both the historical and educational value of collecting coins, I am afraid I shunned any attempt by them to engage me in any kind of show and tell activities, preferring to educate myself on matters of Home and Away and condemning these interesting artefacts to the 'boring (Yawn)' file. I now realise why coin collecting is actually an interesting and worthwhile thing to do, that the history, culture and politics of Britain is all right there in my pocket and these will be passed on to future generations. And isn't it interesting to think that in our lifetime we will see the face of one, if not 2 (or more.  But that would be good for Wills) future monarchs on these coins in our lifetime. 

According to the London Mint Office "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."

My interest in coins came about fairly recently when a friend of mine began collecting the Olympic 50 pences. I still couldn't quite see the point in saving rather than spending them, but then I started to get a few in my change too. Suddenly they seemed like little treasures inside my purse. My Dad is a self confessed magpie and I suppose I am the same. The thrill of finding a special shining treasure amongst your change cannot be beaten. (Incidentally, it's worth noting at this stage that I am a single lady in my 30s. I expect it to stay this way if I continue with my numismatic ways). 

I began noticing the designs (some designs better than others) of the Olympic coins and not quite realising just how many of them were in circulation, set about collecting all of them. Now that the Olympics are done and dusted, and knowing how well GB did and the sense of team spirit and camaraderie that the games brought with it to London and surrounding, they will act as a lovely reminder of how great humans can be if you actually try. These coins will be around for a long time after that's all over. 

So that's what got me thinking about what commemorative coins mean and how the subject matter is clearly pretty special to be worth commemorating. 50p and recent £2 Coins circulate normally and can be found in change. Usually about 5 million of each of these are the commemorative issue, the rest being of the standard design. The designs of the £2 being particularly beautiful in some cases (but I'll come back to my favourite ones later). 

I now look out for all commemorative coins in my change. And will write a bit about my favourites in my next posts. 

Coins We'd Like to See: Snail Racing

The Olympics are known for displaying the pinnacle of human endeavour, effort and determination. However, there have been questions recently about what credit should go to the animals involved. It has even been suggested that Big Star, the horse that Nick Skelton rode to victory in the showjumping event, should be given his own golden postbox, since the Royal Mail is painting a postbox gold for every Team GB gold medal winner.

Where will this all lead? Will dog assault courses or falconry events be introduced? Well let's hope so because that means that the noble sport of snail racing could be in the next Olympics!

"But Matthew, what is snail racing?" I hear you say. I'm glad you asked. You'd never guess it, but it's a race involving snails! Each competing snail has its shell painted with a number. All the snails are then placed at the starting line and then it is a sprint to the finish.

Molluscs are notoriously bad at moving in straight lines, however, and so the race course is not like the human 100m, with lanes and such, but is set in a circle. The starting line is around the centre and the first snail to reach the edge of the circle is the winner.

The radius of the circle is generally 13 or 14 inches and the fastest recorded time was set at a lightning 2 minutes by a speedy snail called Archie in 1995.

My coin design for this sport features two snails in a photo finish as they are both streaming towards the line. I think it reflects the pace and excitement of the event perfectly!

Olympic Review: Badminton

This series of posts will have a look at each of the 29 Olympic and Paralympic coins, review their design and then review Team GB's involvement and performance in the sport.

First up, Badminton.

Personally, this is my favourite design of the 29. It was designed by Emma Kelly, who is an illustrator from London. The combination of the giant detailed shuttlecock and the miniature figures in different poses works well in both the official image above and the coin itself. When you see it in your change it is instantly recognisable, and at the same time reveals some more detail when you take a closer look.

I also like it because I like to play Badminton myself, so I may be a little biased!

In the results, China dominated the medal table, winning at least gold in all 5 events. Unfortunately Team GB did not manage to get through the first round for any of the 3 events we entered: Men's Singles, Women's Singles and Mixed Doubles.

Susan Egelstaff in the Women's Singles event put up a particularly strong fight, quite convincingly winning her first match in the group stage 2-0 and the first game of her second match. The Japanese Sayaka Sato was just too good, however, and won the match, knocking Egelstaff off the top spot in the group and out of the competition.

Am I Not a Man and a Brother

It is the end of the 18th century - a time of revolution in France and independence in America, when George Washington was president and George III was king. It is in this time that the story of this coin starts... This 2007 two-pound commemorating the Slave Trade Act of 1807 is my favourite coin. Designed by David Gentleman, it is not intricate or particularly beautiful, but it is powerful especially when you take into account the story behind it.
The words "AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER" appear on the edge of this coin. They originate from a medallion sold in 1787, designed by none other than Josiah Wedgwood.

The medallion was worn by members of the slavery abolition movement. There were many people of conscience who were part of this movement. However, most of the politicians of the time were representing areas that would suffer if slavery was abolished (large port towns) or in the pay of the companies who traded slaves, which were very rich.

The very fact that the Slave Trade Act of 1807 ever happened is largely down to one member of parliament - William Wilberforce. He tirelessly campaigned in parliament and to the influential people of the time until there was enough momentum and public backing to make abolition possible. The 1807 act did not abolish slavery, but it was a giant first step which eventually led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

If you want to find out more about William Wilberforce (who also set up the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which later became the RSPCA) and the slavery abolition movement, I would recommend the film Amazing Grace, which also came out in 2007 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of that first act.

I hope you can now appreciate that the simple design of a broken chain instead of the 0 in 1807, is quite a powerful image.