Royal Mint
The first coins minted in Britain appeared around 80 to 60 BC when Kentish tribes like the Cantii imitated designs from Marseille. These early pieces were cast rather than hammered and marked a shift from Celtic tribal traditions to organized currency production. Roman invaders established mints across the land after their arrival in AD 43, producing coins for approximately forty years before closing them down. A brief reopening occurred in London in 383 but ended swiftly as Roman rule collapsed. For two centuries following this period no coins appear to have been minted in Britain until English kingdoms emerged in the sixth and seventh centuries. By 650 records show as many as thirty separate mints operating across the country.
In 1279 the nation's numerous scattered mints unified under a single system controlled by the Tower of London. Mints outside London were reduced leaving only a few local and episcopal operations running independently. Pipe rolls containing financial records from the London mint document expenditures and timber purchases for workshops. Individual roles at the mint became well established by 1464 with a master worker hiring engravers and managing moneyers. The Warden witnessed the delivery of dies while a specialist mint board formed on the 23rd of February 1472 vested responsibilities into three main roles: warden master and comptroller.
By the 1540s England suffered financial difficulties due to excessive government spending while mainland Europe experienced economic expansion. Wars with France and Scotland prompted Henry VIII to enact The Great Debasement which significantly reduced the amount of precious metal in coins. Monasteries dissolved during this period effectively ending major coin production outside London. In 1603 the Union of Crowns under King James I led to a partial union of currencies between England and Scotland. Unofficial supplementary token coins made from lead appeared across the country because Scotland had heavily debased its silver coins. By 1612 there existed 3,000 unlicensed mints producing these tokens without paying anything to the government.
England signed a treaty with Spain in 1630 ensuring a steady supply of silver bullion to the Tower mint before the English Civil War broke out. Additional branch mints aided the one in London including an establishment at Aberystwyth Castle in Wales. Parliament seized control of the Tower mint in 1642 forcing Charles I to flee London and establish at least sixteen emergency mints across the British Isles. These locations included Carlisle Chester Colchester Cork Dublin Edinburgh Exeter Newark Pontefract Salisbury Scarborough parts of Cornwall Truro Weymouth Worcester and York.
Charles called on loyalist mining engineer Thomas Bushell after raising the royal standard in Nottingham marking the beginning of the civil war. Bushell moved his operations to Shrewsbury possibly within the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle but this mint operated for no more than three months. The king ordered Bushell to relocate the mint to Oxford where it was established on the 15th of December 1642 in New Inn Hall. Silver plates and foreign coins were melted down and hammered into shape to produce coins quickly. Bushell served as the mint's warden and master-worker alongside notable engravers Nicholas Briot Thomas Rawlins and Nicholas Burghers.
Prince Rupert took control of Oxford in 1643 ordering Bushell to move to Bristol Castle where he continued minting until it fell to parliamentary control on the 11th of September 1645. In November 1642 King Charles ordered royalist MP Richard Vyvyan to build one or more mints in Cornwall using whatever bullion could be obtained. Vyvyan built a mint in Truro serving as its Master until 1646 when parliamentarians captured it. Parliament set up a mint in nearby Exeter in December 1642 which remained under constant threat from loyalist troops. The Cornish Royalist Army led by Prince Maurice captured Exeter in September 1643 leading Vyvyan to move his mint there.
Following Charles I's execution in 1649 the Commonwealth of England established its own coinage using English rather than Latin for the first time. French engineer Peter Blondeau arrived in London in 1649 to modernize the country's minting process after hammer-stuck coins were banned in Paris since 1639. He began testing in May 1651 at Drury House producing milled silver pattern pieces of half-crowns shillings and sixpences. Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell ordered engraver Thomas Simon to cut dies featuring his bust in 1656 for milled coinage but few entered circulation before Cromwell died in 1658.
Isaac Newton became the mint's warden in 1696 under the patronage of Charles Montagu 1st Earl of Halifax. His role was intended as a sinecure yet Newton took it seriously attempting to combat growing problems with counterfeiting. By this time forgeries accounted for 10% of the country's coinage while clipping was commonplace and the value of silver in coins surpassed their face value. King William III initiated the Great Recoinage of 1696 removing all coins from circulation and enacting the Coin Act 1696 making high treason to own or possess counterfeiting equipment.
Satellite mints aided the recoinage effort by establishing operations in Bristol Chester Exeter Norwich and York. Returned coins were valued by weight rather than face value during this massive undertaking. The Acts of Union 1707 united England and Scotland leading London to take over production of Scotland's currency replacing the Pound Scots with the English Pound sterling. As a result the Edinburgh mint closed on the 4th of August 1710.
Construction started in 1805 of a new purpose-built mint on Tower Hill opposite the Tower of London completing by 1809. The move became official in 1812 when keys of the old mint were ceremoniously delivered to the Constable of the Tower. Facing the front stood the Johnson Smirke Building named for designer James Johnson and builder Robert Smirke. Architect John Lidbury Poole supervised construction while smaller buildings housed mint officers and staff members. The entire site remained protected by a boundary wall patrolled by the Royal Mint's military guard.
By 1856 the mint proved inefficient with irregularities in fineness and weight prompting Prime Minister Lord Palmerston to intervene. Master of the Mint Thomas Graham sought advice from German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann who recommended his student George Frederick Ansell. Ansel was appointed as a temporary clerk on the 12th of November 1856 earning £120 per year. He discovered weighing standards were extremely loose allowing losses from overvalued metals. One case involved 7920.00 oz of gold weighed at 7918.15 oz by an official before being certified correctly at 7919.98 oz.
Britain's expanding influence created a need for currency leading to satellite branches overseas starting with New South Wales. Black-market trade in gold during and following the 1851 Australian gold rush threatened to undermine the colony's economy. In 1853 Queen Victoria issued an Order in Council establishing the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint on Macquarie Street within the southern wing of Sydney Hospital. It opened in 1855 with production increasing quickly as assayer's notes from the 29th of October 1855 indicated the Bullion Office purchased unrefined gold worth significant sums in just one week.
The mint's overall coin output averaged over £1,000,000 yearly in its first five years of operation. Gold sovereigns minted in Sydney became legal tender in all British colonies in 1868 and received equal status in the UK itself in February 1886. The success led to similar branches opening in Melbourne on the 2nd of June 1872 and Perth on the 20th of June 1899. Following Federation of Australia in 1901 and establishment of a separate Australian pound in 1910 Commonwealth government used all three branches until the Sydney branch closed after 72 years at end of 1926.
In Canada which had been under British rule since 1763 London produced coins for the newly established Canadian dollar starting in 1858. Calls emerged in 1890 for a mint in Ottawa to facilitate country's gold mines leading to an opening on the 2nd of January 1908 by Lord Grey producing circulation coins including Ottawa Mint sovereigns. In 1931 under Statute of Westminster the mint came under control of Government of Canada and renamed Royal Canadian Mint.
A fifth branch opened in Mumbai India on the 21st of December 1917 as part of wartime effort striking sovereigns from the 15th of August 1918 until the 22nd of April 1919 before closing in May 1919. A sixth final overseas mint established in Pretoria Union of South Africa on the 1st of January 1923 produced £83,114,575 worth of sovereigns lifetime. As South Africa cut ties with Britain the mint closed on the 30th of June 1941 but later reopened as South African Mint.
On the 1st of March 1966 government announced plans to decimalise nation's currency requiring withdrawal of millions of coins and reminting new ones. Tower Hill site suffered lack of space making it inadequate to meet anticipated high demand from recoinage. Possible move discussed since 1870 when Deputy Master Charles Fremantle recommended finding suitable land though debate continued for decades. With Decimal Day set for 1971 government quickly decided where to establish new mint after considering over twenty sites including Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Small Welsh town Llantrisant northwest of Cardiff eventually chosen for new facility. Work began in August 1967 constructing blank treatment plant and striking plant. First phase formally opened the 17th of December 1968 in presence of Queen Elizabeth II Prince Philip and Prince Charles despite fears of protests from some Welsh people unhappy about Investiture of Prince Charles. Second phase construction started 1973 adding means to mint coins from raw metals completing full process. Final cost for land buildings and plant came to £8 million.
Coin minting gradually shifted to new site over next seven years with last coin struck in London being gold sovereign in November 1975. After moving to Wales mint struggled to be profitable as Western world fell into deep recession during early 1970s. To combat rising national debt mint established as trading fund on the 1st of April 1975 requiring self-financing status proving successful through heavy exports.
In April 1990 mint became Executive Agency but by 2001 reported first annual loss attributed to securing only 5% of new euro coin production rather than projected 20%. Mint began diversifying product range offering items outside usual coin-related merchandise including jewellery commemorative plates and figurines creating Royal Mint Classics range. This part proved popular attracting new customers but suffered poor product development including hip flask embedded with £2 coin Edinburgh Crystal clock combined millennium Crown Wedgwood plate featuring Britannia.
The 2008 financial crisis delivered another blow when rescue package costing £500 billion stabilized Britain's banking system leading fears government would finance cost by selling state-owned organizations. Chancellor Alistair Darling stated Treasury would explore potential benefits of alternative future models for Royal Mint in 2009 pre-budget report recommending it become company viewable for sale. Recommendation met outrage from unions opposition parties calling it selling off family silver resulting job losses while chief executive Andrew Stafford welcomed proposal promising further growth securing business future.
On the 31st of December 2009 mint ceased being executive agency assets vested limited company Royal Mint Ltd owned by trading fund continuing ownership HM Treasury. As sole shareholder mint pays annual dividend £4 million to Treasury remaining profits reinvested into mint. In 2015 Chancellor George Osborne announced £20 billion privatisation drive raising funds with Royal Mint up for sale alongside Met Office Companies House.
In same month mint took 48 tonnes silver recovered shipwreck SS Gairsoppa torpedoed 1941 used produce limited edition coins. In 2015 after nearly fifty years began producing own line bullion bars coins under revived Royal Mint Refinery brand. Then 2016 announced plans Royal Mint Gold RMG digital gold currency using blockchain trade invest gold project cancelled 2018.
Royal Mint February 2020 listed first financial product Royal Mint Physical Gold Commodity Exchange-traded fund RMAU listed London Stock Exchange Deutsche Börse. It became first gold ETF backed 100% London Bullion Market Association responsible sourcing programme allowing investors convert RMAU coins gold bars. Mint partnered white label ETF firm HANetf launching sustainable luxury hand-made jewellery 886 by The Royal Mint 2022 selling online shop London Burlington Arcade collection uses gold recovered electronic waste other recycled sources expecting profitable following year.
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Common questions
When did the Royal Mint first produce coins in Britain?
The first coins minted in Britain appeared around 80 to 60 BC when Kentish tribes like the Cantii imitated designs from Marseille. These early pieces were cast rather than hammered and marked a shift from Celtic tribal traditions to organized currency production.
Who was appointed as warden of the Royal Mint in 1696?
Isaac Newton became the mint's warden in 1696 under the patronage of Charles Montagu 1st Earl of Halifax. His role was intended as a sinecure yet Newton took it seriously attempting to combat growing problems with counterfeiting.
Where is the current location of the Royal Mint facility?
Small Welsh town Llantrisant northwest of Cardiff eventually chosen for new facility. Work began in August 1967 constructing blank treatment plant and striking plant.
Which overseas branch of the Royal Mint opened on the 2nd of June 1872?
The success led to similar branches opening in Melbourne on the 2nd of June 1872 and Perth on the 20th of June 1899. Following Federation of Australia in 1901 and establishment of a separate Australian pound in 1910 Commonwealth government used all three branches until the Sydney branch closed after 72 years at end of 1926.
When did the Edinburgh mint close its operations?
As a result the Edinburgh mint closed on the 4th of August 1710. The Acts of Union 1707 united England and Scotland leading London to take over production of Scotland's currency replacing the Pound Scots with the English Pound sterling.