The Royal Mint introduces its City Views proof coin series with a 1640s view of London and the River Thames

The Royal Mint has long tapped into London’s history and culture for numismatic inspiration, and their latest series goes back to 1647 for it. Wenceslaus Hollar, a Bohemian graphic artist, spent much of his life in England, and produced a majority of his works there. Those works were copious, consisting of around 400 drawings, and 3,000 etchings, encompassing a wide range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, nature, religions, and… cityscapes.

One of his more impressive works, and historically useful, was ‘Long View of London from Bankside’, ironically produced while living in Antwerp, from drawings he’d done while in London a few years previous. Taking a single viewpoint, from what is now Southwark Cathedral, it covers the city from the Palace of Whitehall in the West, to Greenwich in the East. Obviously, cramming all that detail onto a coin (the original is 2.7 metres wide!), is quite impossible, so the Royal Mint has taken a small section of it.

Centred on the Tower of London, a sensible choice given it still exists, with the old St. Olaves church on the South Bank (originally built in the early 11th century, a later building on the same site was demolished in the 1920s), it takes the art from the rightmost of the six plates making up the complete image. It’s a neat idea for a coin, taking actual period depictions, rather than another tedious modern view. The obverse is the usual, unadventurous effigy of QEII, but that’s just the way it is for Britain’s national coin producer.

Eight versions make up the range, four in 0.999 silver (1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 1kg), and four in 0.9999 gold (also 1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 1kg) with prices ranging from £95.00 for the one-ounce silver, to a staggering £69,445 for the kilo gold. All are well presented, as is typical for the Royal Mint, and only the two smallest silver variants have mintages over 500 pieces, indeed, over 310 pieces. An attractive concept that seems well realised. Available from today.

PRESS RELEASE

The Royal Mint has released a new City Views London collection of gold and silver coins with a design which features the iconic Tower of London, the ancestral home of the original maker of UK coins.

The coin is the first of new City Views series which celebrates iconic urban landmarks on official UK coin. Based on a long-held numismatic tradition, artists have skilfully rendered intricate details of civic buildings and sprawling suburbs for hundreds of years. Featuring views of landmarks that characterise the world’s greatest cities, they serve as an historical record for future generations.

The inaugural release celebrates the architectural beauty of the London skyline, with the imposing stone fortress built by William the Conqueror at the heart of the reverse design. Inspired by a panoramic scene by the Bohemian artist Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–77), the breath-taking horizon has been skilfully remastered by designers at The Royal Mint. The intricate detail of the original illustrations is achieved combining traditional craftsmanship and innovative laser cutting technology.

Clare Maclennan, Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint, said:

“The first of our new City Views collection celebrates the beautiful London skyline with an iconic design which also features The Tower of London, The Royal Mint’s original home. Combining unique craftsmanship and innovative laser cutting technology, the intricate City Views coin designs are as breath-taking as the views themselves and, based on numismatic tradition, are expected to be popular with architectural coin collectors all over the world.”