Commemorative coins of the United Kingdom

Commemorative coins have been issued by the Royal Mint in the United Kingdom since 1935. Initially they only came out to mark events of great interest, but since the turn of the millennium have been minted yearly.

Until decimalisation crowns (five shilling coins) were used for this purpose as they were the highest denomination of the time, but due to inflation this rôle has been transferred to higher value coins.

Crowns, £5 Coins and (until 1996) £2 Coins are non-circulating, although they are still legal tender. These denominations are only used for commemoratives. During the decimal era, crowns were converted to twenty-five pence.

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.

Since 1982 all of these have also been produced as Sterling silver and 22 carat Gold proofs.

Although the design of the £1 Coin changes every year, these are not considered to be commemoratives, as they do not mark an event or its anniversary.

Crowns
Main article: Crown (British coin)

Twenty-five pence

Five Pounds
  • 1990 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 90th Birthday
  • 1993 40th Anniversary of Coronation of The Queen
  • 1996 The Queen's 70th Birthday
  • 1997 Golden Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
  • 1998 The Prince of Wales' 50th Birthday
  • 1999 Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial
  • 1999/2000 Millennium
  • 2000 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's 100th Birthday
  • 2001 Queen Victoria Centenary of death
  • 2002 Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
  • 2002 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Memorial
  • 2003 50th Anniversary of Coronation of The Queen
  • 2004 Entente Cordiale Centenary (Peace treaty between Britain and France)
  • 2005 Bicentenary of Battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Lord Nelson (2 coins)
  • 2006 80th Birthday of The Queen
  • 2007 Diamond Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
  • 2008 60th Birthday of The Prince of Wales.
  • 2008 450th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth I.
  • 2009: The 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII.
  • 2009: Three years until the 2012 London Olympics, swimming [1]
  • 2010: 350th anniversary of the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II
  • 2010: Two years until the 2012 London Olympic Games, athletics [2]
  • 2011: The 90th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh [3]
  • 2011: Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton [4]
  • 2011: One Year until the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games, cycling [5]
  • 2012: Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II [6]
  • 2012: London 2012 Olympics
  • 2012: London 2012 Paralympics
  • 2013: 60th Anniversary of the Queen's Coronation
  • 2013: The Royal Christening of HRH Prince George of Cambridge
  • 2014: The 300th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Anne
  • 2015: The 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill
  • 2015: The 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo
  • 2015: The Royal Birth of HRH Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
  • 2015: Longest reigning monarch - Queen Elizabeth II
  • 2016: 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
  • 2017: Sapphire Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II
  • 2017: Remembrance Day
  • 2017: Platinum Wedding (70 years) of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh
  • 2017: Prince Philip 70 years of service
  • 2017: Centenary of the House of Windsor
  • 2017: 1000th anniversary of the coronation of King Canute
  • 2017: The Queen's Beasts series - Lion of England (Re-released with 2018 date to celebrate England's success in the World Cup)
  • 2017: The Queen's Beasts series - Unicorn of Scotland
  • 2017: Christmas
  • 2018: Sapphire anniversary of the Queen's coronation
  • 2018: Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
  • 2018: 250th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Academy of Arts
  • 2018: Four generations of the Royal Family
  • 2018: The Queen's Beasts series - Red Dragon of Wales
  • 2018: The Queen's Beasts series - Black Bull of Clarence
  • 2018: 5th birthday of Prince George of Cambridge
  • 2020: 200th Year Anniversary of the death of King George III

Fifty Pence
  • 1973 Joining EEC
  • 1992 EU single market and the British Presidency
  • 1994 D-Day 50th Anniversary
  • 1998 25th Anniversary of joining European Community
  • 1998 50th anniversary of the formation of the National Health Service
  • 2000 Centenary of the Public Libraries Act 1850
  • 2003 Centenary of the Women's Social and Political Union (the Suffragettes).
  • 2004 50th anniversary of the first Four-minute mile by Roger Bannister.
  • 2005 250th anniversary of the publication of Samuel Johnson's first English Dictionary
  • 2006 150th anniversary of the creation of the Victoria Cross. (two coins)
  • 2007 Centenary of the Scout Movement
  • 2009 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
  • 2010 Centenary of Girlguiding UK
  • 2011 Fiftieth anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund
  • 2011 Celebrating London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (each of 29 disciplines on a separate coin[3]
  • 2013 Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Christopher Ironside
  • 2013 Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten
  • 2014 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
  • 2015 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain
  • 2016 Battle of Hastings
  • 2016 Team GB Rio Olympics
  • 2016 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter
  • 2016 Peter Rabbit (2016) (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2016 Mrs Tiggy-Winkle (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2016 Jemima Puddleduck (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2020 Leaving the European Union
  • 2016 Squirrel Nutkin (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2017 The Tale of Peter Rabbit (2017) (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2017 Mr Jeremy Fisher (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2017 Tom Kitten (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2017 Benjamin Bunny (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2017 Sir Isaac Newton
  • 2018 Peter Rabbit (2018) (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2018 Flopsy Bunny (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2018 Mrs Tittlemouse (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2018 The Tailor of Gloucester (Beatrix Potter)
  • 2018 Paddington Bear at Paddington Station
  • 2018 Paddington Bear at Buckingham Palace
  • 2018 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act

Two Pounds
Main article: Two pounds (British coin)

Non-circulated

Circulated

  • 1999: Rugby World Cup in Wales
  • 2001: 100th Anniversary of the first successful trans-Atlantic wireless transmission
  • 2002: XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester (4 coins, one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
  • 2003: 50th Anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA
  • 2004: 200th Anniversary of the first railway locomotive
  • 2005: 400th Anniversary of Gunpowder Plot
  • 2005: 60th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War
  • 2006: 200th Anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (2 coins), showing respectively Clifton Suspension Bridge and Paddington Station.
  • 2007: 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade
  • 2007: 300th Anniversary of the Acts of Union 1707
  • 2008: 100th Anniversary of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London
  • 2009: 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of publication of The Origin of Species
  • 2009: 250th Anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns.
  • 2011: 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible.
  • 2011: 500th Anniversary of the Mary Rose.[3]
  • 2012: 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens [7]
  • 2012: The London Olympics handover to Rio
  • 2013: The 150th anniversary of the London Underground
  • 2013: The 350th anniversary of the first minting of the Guinea
  • 2014: 100th Anniversary of the Outbreak of the First World War
  • 2014: 500th Anniversary of Trinity House
  • 2015: 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta
  • 2015: The Royal Navy
  • 2016: William Shakespeare - Comedy
  • 2016: William Shakespeare - History
  • 2016: William Shakespeare - Tragedy
  • 2016: The Army
  • 2016: The Great Fire of London

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2011-05-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "2011 UK Brilliant Uncirculated Commemorative Coin Set". Royalmint.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-10. Retrieved 2011-05-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/UK12DJBU.aspx
  7. http://www.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/UKCD12BU.aspx

Sources
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