London Mint Office

The London Mint Office

Industry	Supplier of Coins and medals
Founded	2006
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Greg Prosser (Managing Director)
Products	Coins Medals Ingots Banknotes
Website	www.londonmintoffice.org

The London Mint Office is a British-based mail order company with headquarters in Camberwell, London that specialises in sourcing and producing commemorative coins, medals and banknotes. Established in 2006, The London Mint Office is part of the Samlerhuset Group.^[1], one of Europe’s largest coin and medal companies, founded in 1994 and operating in 14 European countries.

The London Mint Office is an official UK distributor for a number of international mints including the South African Mint ^[2] and the Royal Canadian Mint, and has been an approved member of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) since 2009^[3].

The company’s key business activity is the direct marketing of commemorative coins and medals, and other related collectibles through their website, telesales and media advertising.

Partnerships

In 2012, the company was commissioned by the Organisation Committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games as an official licensee.^[1] The London Mint Office has partnered with charities including Waterloo 200, the Merchant Navy Association and the RAF Association, where a percentage of proceeds from sales of coins and medals were donated to their relevant charity ^[4].

The London Mint Office has on occasion partnered with the Worcestershire Medal Service, holders of a royal warrant as medallists to Her Majesty The Queen ^[5].

Exhibitions and Events

The London Mint Office regularly attends coin exhibitions and numismatic events, including the annual Berlin World Money Fair, the world´s largest and most important coin convention and meeting place for central banks, government mints, experts, coin dealers and collectors. The event is part-owned by Samlerhuset, and is widely considered to be one of the most important numismatic trade platforms in the world.^[6].

In 2012, The London Mint Office paired up with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to exhibit the world’s most expensive gold coin, The 1933 Double Eagle in London^[7]. The exhibition was part of a European tour organised by the Samlerhuset Group, and it marked the first time the Smithsonian National Museum had sent an object from its numismatic collection on tour in Europe.

To support its Battle of Waterloo campaign in 2015, The London Mint Office organised a special event in London where a memorial to those who fell at Waterloo was unveiled by the current Duke of Wellington at Waterloo Station^[8]. The event was also attended by broadcaster Peter Snow, overseas ambassadors and descendants of original soldiers from the battle. The unveiling was widely covered by the national media, including the BBC Ten O'Clock News, ITV News, Sky News and twenty regional radio stations. ^[9]

In 2016, The London Mint Office hosted the UK exhibition of the Flowing Hair Dollar^[10], the world’s most expensive coin ever, selling for $10 million at auction in 2013. The coin was on show at La Galleria in central London. Due to the coin’s value, The London Mint Office were forced to implement a complicated logistical operation to ensure the coin remained safe throughout its British leg of its European tour.

In the same year, The London Mint Office celebrated the centenary of the Battle of Britain by putting a reporter in a war-time Spitfire plane.

In August 2016 the company presented Porthcawl Museum ^[11] in South Wales with a selection of replica blueprints, photographs, maps, plans, and other documents from the National Archives that once briefed Squadron 617 ahead of their 'Dambusters' mission over Nazi Germany in May 1943. Many of the aircrews that took part in the daring raid, codenamed Operation Chastise, included men trained either at RAF Stormy Down, near Porthcawl or at RAF Saint Athan in the neighbouring Vale of Glamorgan. The London Mint Office also donated a commemorative coin issued to mark the 75th Anniversary of the mission, which will also go on display in the museum. The presentation was covered by the local media, including the ITV Wales Evening News ^[12] and BBC Wales^[13]

Awards

In 2016 The London Mint Office and PR agency Loud Mouth PR won a Bronze Stevie Award^[14] in ‘PR Campaign of the Year – Events and Observances’ at the 13th Annual International Business Awards for its Waterloo 200 Campaign.

In the same year, The London Mint Office presented military wife, Caroline Lloyd with a silver commemorative medal in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations. Caroline was chosen to receive the medal because of her family’s association with the Queen and Armed Forces^[15]

References