Newsletter: December 2024

As we approach 2025, we wanted to reflect on another exciting year at the Royal Mint Museum. In 2024 we revealed our theme of the year as Coins and the Sea, opened a new exhibition, created a podcast, received a record number of entries to our Short Story Competition, continued to reach thousands of people with our Reminiscence Project and so much more. Take a look below at some of our monthly highlights.

January

At the beginning of the year we announced that we were planning to explore the theme of Coins and the Sea. We set out to research the roles coins played in maritime settings and to answer questions about how coins were used at sea, how their designs formed the identity of nations, how salvaged coins had captured people’s imagination and lots more. Keep reading to discover how this project took shape throughout the year.

Recovered silver spanish coins recovered from sunken ship © WH_Pics Shutterstock.com

February

Our podcast team began their task of interviewing expert guests. The first stop for David Mason, Public Engagement & Information Officer, and Susie Sandford, Digital Engagement & Collections Access Officer, was Portsmouth. There, they visited the National Museum of the Royal Navy to speak to Senior Curator, Victoria Ingles. Then they crossed the dockyard to the Mary Rose Museum to talk to Curator, Hannah Matthews and Head of Research, Alex Hildred. Read on to find out what happened with these interviews.

March

We held a Big Reminiscence Event in the Royal Mint Experience. This event was inspired by our popular Reminiscence Boxes, which were on display. Local care groups came to visit and they engaged with the Boxes and objects inside. As always, the much-loved pre-decimal coins triggered many happy memories. Past and present Royal Mint staff attended the event to share stories and memories about the Royal Mint. We had a programme of short talks, live music and special St David's Day deals in the cafe. It was a great day enjoyed by all. Look out for the next one!

April

This was another busy month for the Museum team. Our Information and Research Manager, Chris Barker, attended the RSPB Scotland’s annual conference to speak about the first definitive coins of His Majesty King Charles. The Royal Mint had worked closely with the RSPB to create eight new designs depicting iconic UK species of flora and fauna. Chris spoke about how the coins had been designed to raise awareness of the importance of conservation and reflect His Majesty's passion for nature and wildlife.

May

We opened our Coins and the Sea exhibition at the Royal Mint Experience at the end of May. This was curated by Hannah Spruce, our maternity cover Exhibitions Manager. The exhibition features objects recovered from shipwrecks, numismatic treasures like the five-guinea piece made from gold captured in Vigo Bay and what has proved to be a very popular Lego pirate ship. The exhibition remains open to the public. You can book tickets for the Royal Mint Experience here.

June

At the beginning of June we finished our eleven-days of exhibiting at the popular Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. The festival welcomed over 167,000 visitors and we used this opportunity to spread the word about our educational outreach programmes and our annual short story competition. Excitedly, the winner of the Coins and the Sea competition was announced at the festival. Keep reading to find out who our winner was!

 

 

July

We were delighted to welcome two new members to the team in July. Kelsie Neak and Richard Phelps, both Collections Assistants, to catalogue around 12,000 medals. They made significant progress straightaway and quickly became valued members of the team. Richard helped Sarah Tyley, our Collections Manager, to prepare a Janvier reducing machine to loan to the Ashmolean Museum, which you can read more about below.

August

We launched our much-anticipated Coins and the Sea podcast in August. After six months of research, interviews and recording, we brought you six fifty-minute episodes discussing everything from ships on coins to piracy. To listen to a deep dive into all things numismatic and nautical, just search for Coins and the Sea on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your favourite shows. You can also find the episodes and supporting content on our website. Please like, follow, comment and subscribe as we want to hear what you think.

September

We received great news in September that we had been granted full accreditation. This process had taken several months and kept Sarah Tyley, our Collections Manager, very busy as she worked towards this goal. Not only that, but she also added more than 2,500 new records to the Collection Online section of the website during the same month. Certainly a productive and rewarding time for our hard-working Collections Manager.

October

The winner of our 2024 Coins and the Sea short story competition, Ione Knight, made a special VIP trip to the Royal Mint Experience to see the Coins and the Sea exhibition. Ione’s fantastic story, the Girl with the Hair Like Fire, was chosen by BBC Broadcaster and Public Historian Greg Jenner, from a shortlist of ten stories. As part of the prize, her story was illustrated by artist David Lawrence and presented to her at a special school assembly in July. She also won a commemorative coin and a voucher for £5,000 for her primary school library. You can read her story here.

November

The Museum team went on a trip to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to visit the Money Talks: Art, Society & Power exhibition. The Ashmolean had borrowed a significant number of objects from the Royal Mint Museum, including Edward VIII pattern coins and the previously mentioned Janvier reducing machine. We were all very excited not only to see how our objects had been displayed, but also to see the rest of the fantastic exhibition. It is open until 5 January 2025 if you would like to see it for yourself.

December

It is always very exciting to have visitors to the Museum and on Friday 6 December the Coins and Medals department from the British Museum paid us a visit.

Fourteen members of the team were taken on a tour of the Royal Mint site and saw production areas, such as the Coin Press Room, the Commemorative Coin section and our Precious Metal Recovery production facility.

In addition, the Museum team were pleased to be able to show off the Tool and Die store which the group found fascinating. We showed our storage areas that contain a plethora of weird and wonderful objects that relate to the story of the Royal Mint and, finally, a short tour through the galleries of the Royal Mint Experience.

It was wonderful to spend time in the company of such knowledgeable colleagues from one of the country’s great museums.

Thank you for following and supporting the Museum in 2024. If you would like to be a part of our story in 2025 then reach out and let us know. You can take part in work experience, order a Reminiscence Box, carry out research, book a talk from one of our curators, receive a virtual visit to your school or enter our latest short story competition.

From all of our team we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!