THE COINS THAT NEVER WERE: SURVIVORS OF THE 2019 BREXIT “MELTDOWN”

“THE UNTOLD STORY OF A REAL LIFE NUMISMATIC “GOLDEN TICKET”

“Few however could have predicted the rapidity by which general currency usage would decline domestically, and with it the once-dependable staple of their entire business.”

The second decade of the 21st Century is a chapter that few in Britain will forget. From the “Pasty Tax” of austerity to the scotch egg “Substantial Meal” of coronavirus, and the third London Olympiad to the Brexit Referendum; the epoch was culturally seismic.

At the Royal Mint the dawn of the decade heralded a new chapter of “private” ownership, still owned by Her Majesty’s Government, but unleashed as an independent limited company. The flurry of Royal events smoothed this transition with a regular stream of traditional numismatic designs, from the birth of a future monarch in Prince George in July 2013 to the commemoration of an unprecedented reign in 2016. Soon the celebrated artistry of yesteryear entered the fray with the Bicentenary of the Modern Sovereign re-issuing Pistrucci’s celebrated design in 2017, and Wyon’s fabled “Una and the Lion” re-appearing in 2019. Few however could have predicted the rapidity by which general currency usage would decline domestically, and with it the once-dependable staple of their entire business.

To combat such a threat and off-set such losses, ever more commemoratives have been released to tempt the budding and veteran collector alike. From famous authors to popular cultural stereotypes, all would conjure numismatic designer intrigue. As such the few British pockets that still rattle with loose change can spy the familiar sights of Paddington Bear and Beatrix Potter alongside the Olympic and Paralympic heroes of 2012. The vehicle by which these less traditional numismatic forms were conveyed remained happily consistent – the Fifty Pence Piece.

Born when England still held the World Cup, the ‘new ten bob’ eased a wary British public laid low by the ‘Sick Man of Europe’ sobriquet, and the prospect of Decimalisation with the familiar likeness of a seated Britannia. However in 1973, and with Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community confirmed, the first commemorative of its type was issued celebrating the ‘linked hands’ of Europe. By the millennium, further such commemoratives had emblazoned the reverse including anniversaries for D-Day and the NHS. Precedent was therefore long-established by 2010, when both the Pound and Two Pound coin had joined in celebrating further milestones in the life of our long-unified nation. Twenty-nine designs would follow alone for the Olympic Games in 2011 – thirty if you count the noteworthy amendment to the ‘Aquatics’ design. With the unexpected ‘Yes’ vote to Withdraw from the European Union in 2016, whispers soon spread of a commemorative coin being produced to mark this seismic socio-political realignment.

Spearheaded by Chief Political Correspondent Christopher Hope of The Daily Telegraph in a conversation with Conservative MP Craig MacKinlay, then Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in his Autumn statement of 29 October 2018 that indeed just such a coin would be struck for collectors, with the rare addition of a day and month of issue. With the flick of his pen – or more era-appropriately – a pithy online tweet, a numismatic legacy lasting 329 years would be broken. For the first time since the Stuart Wars of Succession, a coin would be struck in the British Isles featuring a month of issue. Jacobean “Gunmoney”, prized by collectors ever since for their quirky over- marking and seemingly endless varieties was very much the product of the exigent circumstances in which it was struck. The requirement of calculating backdated interest on soldier’s pay itself, generated the need for months to appear alongside calendar years on Halfcrowns, Shillings and Sixpences minted from the Summer of 1688 until October 1690. The impact of this rapid inflation is no better testified than by the remarking of the ‘Heavy’ Halfcrowns struck prior to March 1689/90 as full Crowns issued for 1690. Ironically, and much like the Gunmoney coinage itself, the ‘Brexit’ 50-Pence would also undergo its own date changes as the events of 2019 played out.

With the historic Parliamentary rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal in January 2019, the first extension to Article 50 was all but confirmed. Little known was that a temporary extension was granted in the first instance until 12 April, before a permanent seventh month extension was granted until 31 October – setting up a litany of Halloween punch-lines from the political commentariat. Plans for the Commemorative 50-Pence were quietly shelved, but not before 1,000 trials of the “Hammond Variant” had been struck by the Royal Mint for die-curing tests. With the postponement granted, all but ten specimens were recycled, with all these accessioned into the Royal Mint Museum for future exhibition.

With the elevation of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister on 24 July 2019, a new Chancellor of the Exchequer would be appointed – Sajid Javid. Within a fortnight of his installation, he would re-initiate plans for the production of the so-called Brexit 50-Pence, albeit with the roll- out no longer confined to 10,000 BUNC issues struck purely for collectors, but now millions of pieces planned to enter circulation on the very date of withdrawal. With preparations ramping up for a ‘No Deal Brexit’ it is plainly apparent how the political will of the incumbent administration was channeled through the coin to help ‘deliver Brexit’. At the meeting of the Privy Council on 8 October 2019, during the second and intensely controversial Prorogation of Parliament, Royal Assent was granted for the production of a circulation coin bearing upon its obverse the calendar year 2019, and on its reverse that same inaugural Presidential Address of Thomas Jefferson with the date now amended to 31 October 2019. By Friday 25 October, the Royal Mint had dutifully struck more than one million pieces in preparation for their impending release the following Thursday, 31 October.

Delighted, no doubt the moneyers must have been when on 28 October it was announced that an Article 50 extension had been granted for a second time, and that all their work was once again redundant. In a year of twenty other commemorative 50-Pence issues, a second cancellation for an intended piece of circulating British specie is as numismatically embarrassing as it is unprecedented. As The Guardian, gleefully reported:
“The 50p coins minted to commemorate Brexit on 31 October are to be “recycled”, the Treasury has confirmed. The decision comes after ministers agreed last week to “pause” production of the special-edition coin by the Royal Mint because of concerns that plans to leave the EU at the end of the month were unlikely to be fulfilled. It is understood that thousands of coins with Thursday’s date on them will be melted down and the metal kept aside until the next Brexit date is agreed. A Treasury spokesman said: “We will still produce a coin to mark our departure from the EU.“

The coins were supposed to mark Britain’s departure at the end of the month but the Treasury told the Royal Mint to begin stockpiling last week. Officials waited before making a final decision about the coins until the EU Heads of State agreed an extension to the Brexit deadline and it was clear that Parliament would prevent the UK from crashing out without a deal on 31 October.

Once an extension was agreed on Monday and No 10 had made it clear its preference was to have a general election, officials were given the all clear to prepare for a future Brexit date. About three million coins were due to be ready to go into circulation under plans put in place by the chancellor, Sajid Javid. The coins bore the inscription “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations”, above the leave date: 31 October 2019.”

Almost immediately following the resounding General Election victory for Boris Johnson on 12 December, plans were rekindled for a second time to issue a Brexit 50-Pence. With virtually the same derision as met the destruction of the last attempt, The Guardian editorial penned the following:

“All change: UK tries again with new 50p to mark Brexit date. A new commemorative Brexit 50p coin has been ordered by the government, after the first batch had to be melted down by the Royal Mint because they featured the wrong date. The chancellor, Sajid Javid, originally ordered production of the original Brexit memorial coin earlier this year but around one million coins had to be recycled because they were marked with the original departure date of 31 October. And with the resounding Conservative victory in the general election clearing the path for Brexit on 31 January, the government has decided to have another go. The new coin will feature the date of the UK’s departure from the EU next to the slogan “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations”.

Following a meeting of the Privy Council, a proclamation issued in the name of the Queen confirmed the intention to produce “coins in gold, silver, and cupro-nickel marking the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union”. The statement, written in the customary archaic style of Royal Proclamations, said that “it appears to Us desirable to determine a new inscription for the said gold, silver and cupro-nickel coins” featuring the correct date. A Treasury spokesperson confirmed the commemorative Brexit coin was due to be issued at the end of January: “This coin will be introduced into circulation on the day the UK leaves the EU.”

The gold and silver coins are not expected to enter general circulation but are likely to be aimed at collectors.

The original Brexit commemorative coins would be of enormous interest to the same collectors, although the Royal Mint has previously said they will all be recycled rather than sold to those keen to remember previous failed attempts to get Brexit legislation through Parliament. Recycled coins are sent to a scrap yard, sorted, shredded, melted in a large furnace, and then purified to be reused. When asked about the cost of the 1m melted-down coins, the Royal Mint told the Daily Telegraph in November that taxpayers would pick up the bill but “the value from the materials will be recouped by the Exchequer”.

In hand, it is immediately apparent that both coins are dated 2019 on the obverse, and bear the annulled UK date of withdrawal on the reverse. More curiously however, is the discovery that two distinctly different obverse legends are employed. Interestingly such varieties directly accord with the extremely high production levels of this denomination at the Royal Mint across 2019. No fewer than twenty-two different reverse designs were struck throughout the year across three different obverse dies as set out below:

2019 Obverses

1. • ELIZABETH II • DEI • GRA • REG • FID
   1. DEF • 2019 [G of GRA to point] – [1]
   1. Combined with Matthew Dent Shield

•          Brexit Mule “31 October 2019”

•          Brexit “31 October 2019”

Official Mintage of the 2020 Withdrawal from the European Union or ‘Brexit’ 50 Pence – 10,001,000 Coins

By virtue of the Royal Mint’s keenness to re- strike their most popular issues of yesteryear, our ‘Mule’ and a ‘True issue’ were inadvertently born in their Llantrisant presses. Whilst we await the Royal Mint’s official adjudication on their individual and collective authenticities, Spink has little doubt as to their bonafide origins. Furthermore, and courtesy of Her Majesty The Queen’s Privy Council Proclamation, these “escapees” would be definitively legal tender currency ‘coins’ of the realm, and not ‘trials’ as is the case for the ten surviving examples bearing the 29 March 2019 date. In British numismatic history, few parallels can be conjured for this extraordinary happenstance. Scholars may think immediately of the 1945 Silver Threepence of George VI, or perhaps even the Withdrawn 1821 Half-Sovereign or 1887 ‘Jubilee Head’ Sixpence. However in all three cases, pure economics resulted in their downfall. The 2019 Brexit 50-Pence stands alone, abandoned, and much like the self-inflicted political spasms that rocked ours island during that most stern of Constitutional debates.

With a vastly successful outreach campaign in February inundating our Spink telephones and in-trays with hundreds of enquiries, the author would be grateful to hear if others are to be met with in circulation today. To date, only these two plucky survivors are known as testament to the remarkable and febrile socio-economic upheaval that was Brexit.

Please contact: [email protected] to submit your examples for further scrutiny.

By Gregory Edmund