Royal Mint
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The Royal Mint is the body permitted to make (mint) coins in the United Kingdom.
The Royal Mint originated over one thousand years ago, but it has functioned since 1975 as a Government Trading Fund, operating in much the same way as a government-owned company. It not only mints coins for the UK, but also mints and exports coins to many other countries. It also produces military medals, commemorative medals and other such items for governments, schools and businesses.
The mint operates on a single site in Llantrisant, South Wales.
The annual Trial of the Pyx checks coins produced for the UK government for size, weight and chemical composition.
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History
The London Mint first became a single institution in 886, during the reign of Alfred the Great, but was only one of many mints throughout the kingdom. By about 1279 it had moved to the Tower of London, and it finally achieved a monopoly in the 16th century.
Isaac Newton, who took up the post of Warden of the Mint in 1696, became perhaps the best-known Master of the Royal Mint. He unofficially moved Sterling to the gold standard from silver in 1717. In 1811 the mint moved out of the Tower to a new factory on Tower Hill, and in 1967 the building of a new mint began in Llantrisant, South Wales.
References
- Chard website (http://www.24carat.co.uk/royalmint.html)
See also
External links
- Royal Mint (http://www.royalmint.com)
- Isac Newton - Royal Mint site (http://www.royalmint.com/about/newton.asp)