RUSTED RUPEES AND THE ROYAL MINT'S STEEL COINS

When I was a kid (say, in the 1950s and part of the 1960s), I found the rusted look of West German low-value coins (1, 2, 5 & 10 pfennig, say 1948-1952) VERY unappealing – and as a young man I disliked how a washer or steel disk could imitate such a coin quite well, plus how a magnet could interfere with such pieces in a slot machine.

I was therefore HORRIFIED when the Royal Mint started to introduce steel-cored coins for the UK (and some of the other countries which it produces coins) starting in September 1992 for 1 & 2 pence coins, and January 2012 for 5 & 10 pence coins.

An article in "The Telegraph" of 03 Sep 2010 describes the proposal for such plated-steel 5 & 10 pence coins as a 'disaster', from the point of view of slot machines and conversion cost.

So, quite frankly, I am not surprised that these Seychelles coins have been giving trouble within weeks of their introduction and that within 14 months of their introduction it had become necessary to replace them.

This is a totally specious argument/statement, and I'd have hoped that the Royal Mint would not stoop to making such misleading comments – it is only within the last 25 years or so that the the Royal Mint had been using a material capable of rusting!

Also, Mr Lake (if quoted accurately) shows a worrying lack of knowledge of the organisation, implying that it had been going only from c.1867, even though many people know that it moved from the Tower of London (where it had been for centuries) to a site in Tower Hill about 210 years ago. Perhaps he should take a look at (among other places), his own Royal Mint Museum's history at the Tower of London.

One of the coining press rooms in the Tower of London, c.1809

To read the Telegraph article, see:
New steel 5p and 10p coins a 'disaster' (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/bank-accounts/7979997/New-steel-5p-and-10p-coins-a-disaster.html)

To read the Royal Mint Museum's history at the Tower of London, see:
The Tower of London (http://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/history/the-royal-mint-story/the-tower-of-london/index.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
REPLACING THE RUSTED RUPEES OF SEYCHELLES (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n05a33.html)

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