First Page
Posted 10/23/2020 03:34 am
Quote:
It is possible The Royal Mint changed their product after just one year and knew their first choice was not good for long term storage. It is interesting to seeing that most 5p and 10p coins along with the 50p were not issued for circulation in the 1982 - 1989 period.
It is possible The Royal Mint changed their product after just one year and knew their first choice was not good for long term storage. It is interesting to seeing that most 5p and 10p coins along with the 50p were not issued for circulation in the 1982 - 1989 period.
I am pretty sure they changed their product after just one year. The packaging of the 1982 set came apart very easily and it feels much more flimsy than the later sets. Of course it was their first attempt at an Uncirculated set other than the 1953 'Plastic' set and the 1968/71 'First Decimal Coins' wallet. The revised design from 1983 became standard for some years, and they sold many Commonwealth coin sets in similar packaging.
By 1980 the 5p and 10p coins were large and heavy in proportion to their actual value. They were heavily used in slot machines and many people complained that their pockets just filled up with large numbers of them. The introduction of the 20p immediately reduced the demand for both coins: no further large 10p's were ever struck for circulation, and no 5p's were issued for circulation again until 1987.
