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Why the Queen’s birthday changes day every year…
Since 1952, the Queen has celebrated her official birthday on a different date each year. In fact, for the past five years alone she has celebrated her birthday on the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th June, and next week she will celebrate her birthday on the 12th!
Now you’re probably wondering how this can be… and that’s because the Queen actually has two birthdays every year.
The first is on the actual day the Queen was born – 21st April 1926 – meaning that in April this year she marked her 95th birthday, although the celebrations were far more muted than normal.
Currently the reigning monarch’s second birthday is an official birthday on the second Saturday in June – a practice that dates back as far as 1748.
When King George II was the sovereign, the annual military procession (which later became the ‘Trooping the Colour’ parade) became synonymous with celebrating the monarch. However, King George II’s birthday was in October, and since good weather couldn’t be guaranteed for the annual parade in autumn, he decided to mark the date in the summer instead when there was a better chance of good weather.
And so, the tradition to celebrate the monarch’s birthday in the summer stuck, and each summer the Queen gets the chance to celebrate her birthday again!
This year 12th June will mark a particularly special birthday for the Queen. Turning 95 is a milestone achievement – less than 1% of the population reach this impressive age, so it’s no wonder that the Queen’s June birthday is set to be an important moment for the country and collectors alike.
And with the Queen’s 95th birthday being such a milestone achievement, many commemoratives were issued to mark the occasion in April. Since then we have seen repeated sell-outs.
But there’s one commemorative that has been issued specifically to mark the Queen’s official birthday that only 750 collectors will have the chance to own.
The Queen’s Official 95th Birthday Penny DateStampTM is set to be released on the 12th June. Most notably, this commemorative contains an original penny struck in 1926, the year the Queen was born. Each one has been individually capsulated and postmarked with the Queen’s official 95th birthday – 12th June 2021. What’s more, the one day only postmark ensures that the edition limit is guaranteed and that no more can ever be produced.
With such a limited number available, this DateStampTM issue is sure to be another sell-out as collectors aim to pay tribute to the Queen’s milestone birthday and her longevity. You can be one of them today by clicking the link below.
If you’re interested:
You can pay tribute to our longest reigning monarch by pre-ordering the Queen’s Official 95th Birthday Penny DateStampTM here. Only 750 will ever be issued, so you’ll need to be quick.
The revamped US Silver Eagle soaring onto new coins
The UK has its Britannia, Canada has its Maple Leaf, and Australia has the Kangaroo. Of course, I’m talking about bullion coins, and not just any coins, the most heralded and collected bullion coins in the world. And alongside these titans of the bullion market is the US’s Silver Eagle.
It was in 1986 that the US Mint began their now worldwide famous American Eagle coin programme. They quickly achieved global fame for their beauty and guaranteed precious metal weight, content, and purity.
The heraldic eagle design echoes the Great Seal of the United States, and has remained unchanged for 35 years – that is, until now…
To mark the 35th anniversary of the American Eagle coin programme, the design has been revamped and will be available for collectors later this year.
High demand is expected – this newly designed coin will be a piece of US numismatic history! If you’d like to be kept up to date on the release of the new design US eagle coin, simply sign-up at the end of this blog. We’ll then make sure you’re the first to know when you can get your hands on this new coin!
New design for the 35th anniversary – piece of US history
Back in 2020, the US Mint received the green light to move forwards with plans to revamp the existing US Silver Eagle design that’s appeared on all US Silver Eagle coins since 1986.
The selection of the new Eagle design fell to the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), who did not have an easy job. In total 39 different designs were proposed, each one depicting a reimagined eagle or eagles.
After much deliberation, the new design, by Emily Damstra, was unveiled in October 2020, and features a more contemporary depiction of an eagle in flight, coming into land on a branch.
As this is the first time ever that the Silver Eagle design has been changed, this new coin design is a piece of US numismatic history!
Ulterior motive – new security features
But the revamp is not just about refreshing the designs – the Mint has an ulterior motive.
Part of this move is to accommodate the use of anti-counterfeiting technology at the production stage, to enhance the security of the American Eagle silver and gold bullion coin programme.
It’s believed that the most commonly counterfeited coin encountered in the US market is the American Eagle 1oz gold bullion coin!
The Mint plans to introduce the new security features when the proof and other collector versions of the Eagle coins are released – until then, the details of the new features are being kept tightly under wraps, for obvious reasons.
Register your interest for updates
This year – in a very exciting move for US coin collectors – the Silver Eagle will be issued in TWO designs, both dated 2021: one featuring the old reverse, and the other featuring the new reverse.
Here at The Westminster Collection, we’re working hard with our suppliers in the US to try and bring both 2021-dated designs to the UK, to allow collectors to secure both the last and first year of issue of each design.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on the availability of these coins, simply sign-up below.
We’ll then make sure you’re the first to know when they’re available so you can add this piece of US numismatic history to your collection. We will only contact you with regards to this launch, your details will not be used for any other purposes.
Sign-up for updates:
Breaking news from Wonderland! Don’t be late for this very important tea party…
It’s been 150 years since Lewis Carroll penned his famous fantasy children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass.
Now, in exciting, breaking news, according to the Royal Proclamation published on 28th May, Alice and the inhabitants of Wonderland will be the stars of a NEW UK coin series issued by The Royal Mint!
Our sources in Wonderland are being very secretive about these new issues, even the Mad Hatter is being unusually quiet, so not many details are known at the moment. But if you want to be kept up to date and be the first to know when these NEW coins are released, just register your interest at the end of this blog.
Whilst we wait for further details to be revealed, let’s take a look at the Royal Proclamation and what we know so far…
Two special Alice-inspired coins
According to the Royal Proclamation published on 28th May, there will be two coin designs inspired by Carroll’s two books – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
They will be released in a variety of specifications, including base metal £5 and precious metal versions in varying denominations. The designs are said to include:
- A depiction of Alice and the Cheshire Cat sat in a tree accompanied by the inscription “ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND”
- A depiction of Alice and characters the Tweedledee and Tweedledum and the inscription “THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS”
I don’t know about you, but we’re all mad here, madly excited that is, to see these designs come to life on UK coins!
High demand expected
Lewis Carroll’s nonsense fairytale about a girl called Alice is undeniably one of the best-known and most popular works of English-language fiction. Its popularity is clear when you consider it’s been adapted into theatre and ballet shows, not to mention several blockbuster Disney films.
Alice collectables are in high-demand – a ‘legendary’ 1865 first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (one of only 22 known to be in existence) went under the hammer in 2016 for £1.3-£2 million. This confirms that these NEW UK COINS will surely be highly sought-after.
Register your interest
No launch date is known yet for these coins, but if you want to be the very first to hear any updates make sure you sign up below! We will only contact you with regards to this launch, your details will not be used for any other purposes.
By signing up we’ll make sure you’re the first to know any updates about these new coins, including when they are launched – so you won’t be late for this very important tea party…