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.