Novelty coins are here to stay?

[GoodAsGold]

What's your thoughts folks? A lot of us are buying novelty coins, whether BU, silver or gold and they no doubt sell well (unless an OTT mintage of 60,000 Paddingtons if I remember correctly). Are novelty coins here to stay?

Will the RM issue fresh novelty coins for years to come or is there a limit to them? Who else needs commemorating? Postman Pat? Fireman Sam? Or Bob the Builder perhaps? I know of one collector eagerly awaiting a Rupert the Bear design (just realised that collector's initials are RB - same as Rupert Bear).

Will future generations of collectors perhaps regard novelty coins as desirably as a lot of us regard Queen Victoria sovereign shield backs?

Should they all be available as circulated coins for kids to find in their change (assuming we don't become a completely cashless society) or should they not enter circulation like a couple of recent coins?

What are your thoughts and who else would you like to see on these coins? 

Lots of questions but please just answer any of them that you just have a view on. Thanks. My apologies if this has already been covered as a topic.

[h103efa]

Wide ranging topic:

But i think for the RM to survive as a business, it needs to explore these novelty / commemorative coin releases. Yes most dont go into circulation, yet still people are buying them, when they get their mintages right. Supply and Demand I guess.

Based on the gazette proclamations, the RM is always looking for designs either for the annual sets or one off releases. Lately most havent hit the general circulation. They blame demand. Is it because of move to cashless society, i dunno.

You forget not just novelty, also other commemorative like Wedgewood vase, RAF planes, Frankenstein etc.

Should the children based release be put into circulation, i dunno. I think it works sort of as it. What would have been really good is if they proper released the 10 p A-Z in high numbers to give more people the collecting buzz. This would have probably led to future generations continuing to collect and transitioning to others coins, bullion, proofs, stacking etc...

[Stuntman]

I see the novelty coins as a complete infantilisation of our coinage.  Which is a shame.  I do like some of the coins which commemorate British institutions and I also like the sports/olympics coins, but I think the Beatrix Potter, Paddington, Gruffalo, Wallace & Gromit (etc) are on the wrong side of the line.

Look at some of the coin designs from 1816 to 1936.  I wish we had more designs like these, on the circulating coinage.  I'm all for progress, but we've lost the artistry.

[MickB]

Royal Mint made a Harry Potter medal previously so I wouldn't be surprised if they they started a 50p coin series in the future. They'd sell easily as they'd appeal to a number of people.

A couple of years ago the Royal Mint asked for ideas for a coin collection so they must have plenty of ideas to keep us all collecting.

[GoodAsGold]

5 hours ago, h103efa said:

Wide ranging topic:

But i think for the RM to survive as a business, it needs to explore these novelty / commemorative coin releases. Yes most dont go into circulation, yet still people are buying them, when they get their mintages right. Supply and Demand I guess.

Based on the gazette proclamations, the RM is always looking for designs either for the annual sets or one off releases. Lately most havent hit the general circulation. They blame demand. Is it because of move to cashless society, i dunno.

You forget not just novelty, also other commemorative like Wedgewood vase, RAF planes, Frankenstein etc.

Should the children based release be put into circulation, i dunno. I think it works sort of as it. What would have been really good is if they proper released the 10 p A-Z in high numbers to give more people the collecting buzz. This would have probably led to future generations continuing to collect and transitioning to others coins, bullion, proofs, stacking etc...

Gazette proclamations @h103efa - that's why I call you the G Man!  I started out by appreciating different coin designs in my spare change and just wanted cleaner ones. That's when I logged on to the RM website, discovered BU versions and my hobby began. The RM mailing list then took care of the rest. Perhaps though children don't see the uncirculated Grufallo or W+G coins and miss out on becoming collectors because they never had that initial spark? Thanks H and good luck with Snowman 2.

[GoodAsGold]

3 hours ago, Stuntman said:

Look at some of the coin designs from 1816 to 1936.  I wish we had more designs like these, on the circulating coinage.  I'm all for progress, but we've lost the artistry.

That's very true IMO @Stuntman. I'd love to see some very old designs repeated. They'd make great looking proofs as well.

[GoodAsGold]

2 hours ago, MickB said:

Royal Mint made a Harry Potter medal previously so I wouldn't be surprised if they they started a 50p coin series in the future. They'd sell easily as they'd appeal to a number of people.

A couple of years ago the Royal Mint asked for ideas for a coin collection so they must have plenty of ideas to keep us all collecting.

I'd love a Harry Potter series on British coins but they're currently introducing them elsewhere (Niue I think). My brother was involved in the first 2 films and worked with the child actors but didn't appear in the film itself. He managed to acquire Harry Potter Stunts Worldwide baseball caps for my kids. My daughter also owns first editions of books 2 and 3. Basically we're a Harry Potter family.

[FunkyChicken]

On 03/11/2019 at 21:20, Stuntman said:

I see the novelty coins as a complete infantilisation of our coinage.  Which is a shame.  I do like some of the coins which commemorate British institutions and I also like the sports/olympics coins, but I think the Beatrix Potter, Paddington, Gruffalo, Wallace & Gromit (etc) are on the wrong side of the line.

Look at some of the coin designs from 1816 to 1936.  I wish we had more designs like these, on the circulating coinage.  I'm all for progress, but we've lost the artistry.

Guess you'll need something to tackle the stuffy image numismatics may have, and apparently the Royal Mint thinks it can serve a new market by releasing coins like these... 

[Stuntman]

^^^ Which is fair enough.  Just not for me 😋

I'm not the target market for such coins and as such, won't be buying them.  But if it brings in new collectors, all well and good.  Everybody starts somewhere.

Since I rekindled my interest in coins (when the Olympic 50ps started appearing in circulation) I have moved on to buying older UK predecimal coins, as well as PM bullion coins.  For instance, my last coin purchase included a George I halfpenny, a George III halfpenny, a Victoria Sixpence and a George V Florin!

[FunkyChicken]

9 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

^^^ Which is fair enough.  Just not for me 😋

I'm not the target market for such coins and as such, won't be buying them.  But if it brings in new collectors, all well and good.  Everybody starts somewhere.

Since I rekindled my interest in coins (when the Olympic 50ps started appearing in circulation) I have moved on to buying older UK predecimal coins, as well as PM bullion coins.  For instance, my last coin purchase included a George I halfpenny, a George III halfpenny, a Victoria Sixpence and a George V Florin!

Hhmmyeah, now that is something else indeed. 😁

Have to admit those more childish Royal Mint novelty coins aren't entirely my cup of tea either. Think the last coins I bought from the Royal Mint were a Remembrance Day coin, one in a Stephen Hawking theme, one about D-day, and one about Sherlock Holmes. 

[Stuntman]

I like the Stephen Hawking coin design, but not enough to buy a BU or precious metal version from the RM.  If it was released as a circulating 50p coin I would definitely look out for it.

Enjoy collecting whatever coins float your boat 😊

[FunkyChicken]

10 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

I like the Stephen Hawking coin design, but not enough to buy a BU or precious metal version from the RM.  If it was released as a circulating 50p coin I would definitely look out for it.

Enjoy collecting whatever coins float your boat 😊

I went for the BU coin card edition, kind of had to as the silver proof edition was sold out already when I learned about its existence. But I won't complain. 😊

And thanks, you also enjoy collecting your predecimal coins and PM bullion coins. 👍

[TheRegalOne]

If RM are going to do it, they should stick to the theme of national characters etc, given the coins they appear on. 

It's nice to get a surprise circulated Peter Rabbit 50p in your change for example, but keep those numbers small otherwise it's not special when you get one.

[kimchi]

A very topical subject and it's only going to become more important to us collectors going forward imo.

I like my Gruff and I love the Snowmans but while I can see the argument against them going into circulation (Snowman too seasonal, Gruff too 'cartoony', perhaps) I think there's a strong argument to be made that they aren't 'real' 50ps. Hawking wasn't circulation was it, but then Sherlock Holmes was/is? There's no rhyme nor reason to that imo. Paddington is more of a British institution in my eyes than the Gruff, and those 50ps have been released, but it's not 'up there' with the timeless Beatrix Potter characters. The purist in me almost wishes they had just stuck to Peter and friends.

I do wonder what sentiment/interest will be in future and obviously I'm invested in the outcome, as one day I might have to/want to cash in. What I find interesting or perhaps even a little worrying is that despite tiny mintages the second Gruff and Wallace and Grommit sold well but haven't quite sold out (yet), unlike all four of the circulated Paddingtons (edit except St Paul's for some reason), which went very quickly iirc. So I do wonder if collectors are becoming a bit unsure about these going forward. Of course, I hope they will be a massive hit on the secondary market asap (even though I don't have them) as it boosts the series as a whole!

The counter-argument of course is that the two (that haven't sold out) are 'near enough' (90-95%) and that's with the now higher price of around £200 (!!!) more per coin. These ones could well be (the?) winners, but it's a lot for the Mint to be asking when their strategy is so unpredictable and arguably shows some level of incompetence and disregard for their loyal customers. I know in the past the Mint have given incorrect information to people I know about which £2s, for example, will be circulated.

Anyway!

Tldr; interesting for me that the gold proof non-circulation children's characters have not yet sold out but did for 3/4 the circulation Paddingtons.

On 03/11/2019 at 17:46, GoodAsGold said:

Should they all be available as circulated coins for kids to find in their change (assuming we don't become a completely cashless society) or should they not enter circulation like a couple of recent coins?

 

On 03/11/2019 at 17:59, h103efa said:

What would have been really good is if they proper released the 10 p A-Z in high numbers to give more people the collecting buzz. This would have probably led to future generations continuing to collect and transitioning to others coins, bullion, proofs, stacking etc...

Absolutely and that left a very bad taste in our mouths from the Mint as I'd bought the kids the collector albums. Between the three of them they have found one coin I think (!). I know a lady who checks all the change at the pub she works at and she hasn't seen one! Fair enough (!) the Mint wanted to sell as many poor quality BUs at £2 each but after the initial sale of those they should have released a proper amount of letter coins into circulation imo.

[dicker]

Personally, I have not and will not buy any “cartoon” coins when there is a vast wealth of historic coins available for sale.  
 

Bit each to their own. 
 

Best 

Dicker