» Collectors coin it for Brexit
Lydia Stephens speaks to people who marked Brexit day by striking their own 50p at the Royal Mint
PHIL and Sheila Walmsley live in Southport in Lancashire, a trip of more than five hours to Llantrisant in south Wales.
Yet the couple wanted to find a special way to celebrate leaving the European Union so made the journey to join the Royal Mint’s one-off “historic Brexit tour” at which they could strike their own Brexit 50p.
They were joined by coin collectors, one of whom had driven from Scotland for the event, and other Brexit supporters keen to be the first to get their hands on an official Brexit coin, with the message: “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations.”
Two thousand tickets for the event sold out in less than 24 hours as people from all over the UK: remainers, Brexiteers and coin collectors alike, flocked to get their own piece of history.
“It is very frustrating that it has gone on for so long only to get to the day and it feel like a non-event,” said retired civil servant Phil.
“There is nothing else really going on so when I saw it advertised I thought it was a good idea.
“While we do have a couple of coins we have collected over the years, we aren’t coin collectors,” he added.
“I voted to leave the EU in 2016 so we didn’t have to follow their rules and regulations anymore,” said Sheila. “We don’t have to have straight bananas anymore. We can buy and eat our own now.
“I am disappointed by the nonevent of it all, I was hoping to see Boris [Johnson] or Nigel [Farage] down here. I am glad Boris is going to Sunderland though, they were the first to vote leave in 2016.”
Husband and wife Dave and Mary Kelly have sat on the opposite sides of the Brexit debate.
“We haven’t had any arguments about it, and in fact, we agree on most things, but for me, it was another level of bureaucracy that I did not want,” said 67-year-old Mary, who voted to leave the EU in the referendum.
Mary’s husband, Dave, 67, who voted to remain in the EU in 2016, said: “We agree on what we need but I thought it were best if we were in the EU, but Mary thought we were best out.
“I am personally sorry that we are leaving because I think a lot of our best deals are with the EU, without the EU it is unsure it will continue with different regulations.
“Our government say there will be fewer regulations, but those regulations make our country safer. Electrical products are safer now because of all the EU regulations,” added Dave, who is a retired electrical engineer.
The couple decided to attend the tour to mark the historic day, and despite their difference in opinions, they both agreed it was an important part of history.
They purchased one strike your own coin on the day of the tour for £10 to share between them.
The strike your own coin experience has been running since 2016, with many coin collectors from all over the UK returning to the country for each event in order to ensure their collection was complete.
This is the fourth coin commemorating the UK’s relationship with the EU since its membership in 1973. The first was released that year to mark the joining of the union, a further two coins were released in 1992/93 and in 1998, the second to mark John Major taking over the rotating presidency of the European Council, and the third to mark the 25th anniversary.
One coin collector drove 12 hours from Dundee in Scotland to ensure he had this fourth coin to complete his collection of British coins marking the relationship with the EU.
Father of four, Dean Smith, got into coin collecting over two years ago, and now runs a YouTube channel called My Family Collects where he shares details of his collection with the online collector community. The channel has over 400 subscribers, many of which were also at the eventyesterday.
When Dean heard about the special event to introduce the Brexit coin at the Royal Mint, he and his step-father made the decision to make the almost-1,000-mile round trip in the car to get their hands on the one-off coin.
“I have all the strike your own coins, some I have done myself but some I have swapped with other collectors online. I couldn’t even put a number on the amount of coins I have.”
The exclusive tour was running every 15 minutes, and throughout the course of the day, had 2,000 ticket holders in attendance.
Coin collector Shaun Williams from Cardiff thought he would try his luck to get the coin on the day, saddened by the fact it could be the very first strike your own edition he has not managed to get yet.
“I have done it from the very start, I have them all. I don’t really have an opinion on the political side of things, I am just here for the coin.”
As were mothers Natalie Jones and Sarah Bennett from Ystrad Mynach.
Both women collect coins for their children and stressed it was the appeal of having the special packaging that comes with the coin on this day that made them want to attend the event.
There was a blurred split of people who attended the event to mark the historic day due to their feelings on Brexit, and those who were there to add a coin to their collections, but there were plenty of crossovers between the two.
Alun Williams and Beverley
Abbott made the journey from Wiltshire to get their Brexit coin.
Having both voted to leave the EU and being amateur coin collectors, it was a nice way to mark the historic day.
“It is absolutely a fresh start, I think it is about time it happened,” said 54-year-old Alun, who happened to be celebrating his birthday.
The profitable side of coin collecting was also exposed at the event, with some coin collectors upset at the greed expressed by others who, by 9am on Friday, were reportedly already attempting to sell the coin online for prices between £50 and £90.
Kevin Atkins, from Somerset, expressed his frustration at those hoping to profit from the exclusive one-day event.
Individuals were only able to purchase three tour tickets, priced at £25 each, which would then grant them access to strike three of their own coins for £10 per coin.
“It is ruining it for collectors, to me, it shouldn’t be like this, collectors should help each other out and not profit from it,” said Kevin.
Clare Maclennan, director of commemorative coin at the Royal Mint told how they have been commemorating significant events in British history for over 1,000 years.
“It felt fitting, that following the decision on June 23, 2016, for the UK to leave the European Union, for the Royal Mint to produce a new 50p coin to commemorate this historic moment.”
The decision to mark the day in this way was appreciated by both coin collectors excited by the prospect of adding a unique and historical coin to their collection, and those who have waited the last four years for this day.