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Auction 21171 6 Jan 2022
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Decimal Trials | Elizabeth II (1952-), Royal Mint Dodecagonal Trial Piece, Pattern for a Pound, 2014, in nickel-brass, fourth crowned portrait right, by Ian Ranklin-Broadley, micro lettering at rim, rev. The Royal Mint, official emblem, TRIAL PIECE below, edge with alternating sides of 12-grained straight milling, 22mm., 8.91g, 12h, light handling marks, otherwise quite brilliant, a bold extremely fine, very rare and an important trial coin in the long and illustrious history of this currency unit.
Confirmed in 2018 as an official Royal Mint product distributed to the European Vending Agency to gauge opinion on the planned redesign of the British Pound Coin. Some 20,000 pieces were reportedly struck, with a subsequent dodecagonal bimetallic trial piece issued in 2015 as the final coin design took shape. As the pound coin stretches towards its half-century of service in its present base metal form, this important trial piece not only forms a critical part of the recoinage of 2016, but also in the wider history of the currency unit stretching back to Tudor England. As a further point of interest besides the obvious monometallic and portrait differences between this issue and the final coin, this trial measures 22mm across (the coin is 23mm.) and this possesses alternating milling of 12 grooves whilst the final issue has 13 grooves.
Estimate: £300 - £400
Confirmed in 2018 as an official Royal Mint product distributed to the European Vending Agency to gauge opinion on the planned redesign of the British Pound Coin. Some 20,000 pieces were reportedly struck, with a subsequent dodecagonal bimetallic trial piece issued in 2015 as the final coin design took shape. As the pound coin stretches towards its half-century of service in its present base metal form, this important trial piece not only forms a critical part of the recoinage of 2016, but also in the wider history of the currency unit stretching back to Tudor England. As a further point of interest besides the obvious monometallic and portrait differences between this issue and the final coin, this trial measures 22mm across (the coin is 23mm.) and this possesses alternating milling of 12 grooves whilst the final issue has 13 grooves.
Estimate: £300 - £400