The ebb and flow of events carried me to Britain a couple of months ago, where I did not find any Charles III coins in circulation. To get one, I had to make it myself!
To add insult to injury, it's legal-tender Monopoly money! I really do wonder if the Mint authorities thought very hard before putting their King on one side of a coin and "Mister Moneybags" on the other.
If you have a chance to visit
The Royal Mint in Llantrisant and take the tour, I heartily recommend it. One thing you need to know, though, is that it is not practicable to walk from the nearest railway station, and despite what their Web site says, the Mint people cannot call you a taxi. I wound up going into the pub across the street from the station and asking them to call me a taxi.
There happened to be a coin show in London while I was within easy striking distance, so I went, and I picked up three items while questioning my sanity all the while for spending the money.
This is a brooch made from an 1895 Maundy set. I have bought a couple of similar items over the years, and had them made into tie clips. This one has been put together entirely the wrong way around. If you must solder coins on top of each other, don't overlap the portraits like this!
This tradesman's token, from Monneron Freres, in the amount of five sols, is made redeemable in assignats. Even someone seized with revolutionary fervour, as depicted here in the storming of the Bastille under the aegis of the Genius of Liberty, might hesitate to trade good copper for rapidly-depreciating paper.
I'm not a huge fan of Cecil Rhodes, but I've always wanted one of these coins, because it has several aspects I really like. The inscribed edge, of course, the small portrait inset medal, the multiple coats of arms. I like that kind of thing. £70 seemed like a lot, but I guess it's just bullion now!
And finally, I discovered that the great Tim Hunkin, of "Secret Lives of Machines" fame, had relocated some of his custom-built arcade machines from the very remote Southwold Pier to a storefront in Holborn, London, so I went and paid a visit. I got more tokens than I really needed.
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Posted 01/29/2026 6:41 pm
