The annual Royal Mint Coin of the Year competition was run at the end of December, being a public vote via the Royal Mint web site to decide which was the most popular coin of 2021.
With at least 35 coins to choose from, the winner with 775 votes (17.96% of the total votes) was the coin that completed the Queen’s Beast collection, The Queen’s Beasts 2021 £5 BU.
The coin just beat 50th Anniversary of Decimal Day 2021 50p into second place. The other coins were some distance away.
The top five results were:
1. The Queen’s Beasts 2021 UK £5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin (17.96%)
The Queen’s Beasts series was concluded with a coin that shows all ten of the Queen’s Beast. Issued on 29 April 2021, the coin was minted as BU in a £5 coin and also in various weights of silver and gold.
This coin, as was the others in the Queen’s Beasts series, was designed by Jody Clark.
Costing only £13, it is very much at the bottom end of Royal Mint price range for coins. It’s good to see that popular and attractive coins are affordable to all collectors.
Read more at The 2021 Five Pound Coin – The Queens Beasts.
2. The 50th Anniversary of Decimal Day 2021 UK 50p Brilliant Uncirculated Coin (15.81%)
This 50p coin is to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of decimalisation. The reverse was designed by Dominique Evans.
It was probably obvious that the Royal Mint would recognise this milestone but they created a nice surprise with the obverse portrait, which was the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin, and the one used at the time of decimalisation on coins between 1968-1984.
Read more at The 2021 Fifty Pence Coin – 50th Anniversary of Decimalisation.
3. The 95th Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen 2021 £5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin (7.14%)
A £5 coin by the Royal Mint to commemorate the 95th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Reverse, by Timothy Noad, shows a posy of flowers behind the crowned ‘ER’. The dates 1926-2021 are across the top and below is the text ‘MY HEART AND MY DEVOTION’.
Read more at The 2021 Five Pound Coin – Queen Elizabeth 95th Birthday.
4. Gothic Crown Quartered Arms 2021 UK 5oz Silver Proof Coin (6.68%)
As part of the Royal Mint’s The Great Engravers Collection (featuring William Wyon), the Gothic Crown Quartered Arms design is one of the most beautiful coins ever made.
This coin must have been a favourite to win for many numismatists, but maybe few collectors were able to get one as it sold out in a matter of minutes and quickly obtained a hefty price tag well over the Royal Mint asking price of £255. It certainly is a outstanding coin.
The Reverse, by William Wyon, shows the Gothic Cross Quartered Arms design as originally used on the 1847 Gothic Crown.
Read more at The 2021 Gothic Crown Quartered Arms – 2oz Silver Proof.
5. The Remembrance Day 2021 UK £5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin (6.68%)
The Royal Mint’s 2021 Remembrance Day Crown. The Reverse, designed by Gary Breeze and developed in collaboration with the Imperial War Museums, shows colourised red poppies and the words ‘AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM’.
It’s brilliantly simplistic, yet poignant, clever and beautifully designed. The font and background makes it look like a war memorial and the colourised poppies add a new dimension. Another great coin from Gary Breeze.
Read more at The 2021 Five Pound Coin – Remembrance Day.
For a full list of results, see the Royal Mint Web page: Celebrating our Coins of the Year 2021 (affiliate link)
Images credit: The Royal Mint