THIS IS AN ORIGINAL ARTICLE!! PLEASE CITE THIS ARTICLE IF ANY INFORMATION FROM IT IS USED FROM IT VIA THE CITATION BELOW!!

Citation:- Gokhale, Rishi. (2020). Issue 3:- Cool Brexit Coinage (Part 1):- Numismatic News by Rishi Gokhale (a Young Numismatist). (Blog) American Numismatic Association Blog. Available at: https://www.money.org/collector/user_53367/blog/issue-3-cool-brexit-coinage-part-1-numismatic-news-by-rishi-gokhale-a-young-numismatist- [Accessed 1 Feb. 2020].

Issue 3:- Cool Brexit Coinage (Part 1):- Numismatic News by Rishi Gokhale (a Young Numismatist)

By:- Rishi S. Gokhale

THIS IS THE 1ST PART OF THE ARTICLE. THE 2ND PART WILL BE UPLOADED SOON

    Welcome to the first part of the third article of Numismatic News by Rishi Gokhale! Please cite this article if any info from it is used via the citation provided below. In today's article, I will be discussing the new Brexit Coinage released just yesterday to commemorate Brexit, Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. Whatever your political stance on Brexit may be, this article is only going to talk about the interesting coins made by the Royal Mint to celebrate this important event for Britons and British history. Along with this, I will talk about Sovereigns and the relationship between Britain and the EU.

    If you have not heard the news, yesterday at 23:00, The United Kingdom officially left the EU. The Royal Mint released 4 new coins on the same day. In this first part of the article, we will go over the first two coins along with the relationship between Britain and the EU. 

    The first coin we will go over is the 2020 50 Pence Withdrawal from the European Union coin. The coin itself is an equilateral curved heptagon, has a plain edge, made of cupro-nickel, weighs eight grams, and has a diameter of 27.3 mm. There are over three million of these coins in circulation, and at the moment an unknown amount of Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) coins sold by the mint. 

    The obverse of the coin features Queen Elizabeth II wearing the George IV State Diadem. Around her majesty, the lettering, "ELIZABETH II*D*G*REG*F*D*50 PENCE*2020*J.C". This lettering may look strange, however, it stands for "Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina Fidei Defensatrix". This is Latin for "Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God Queen Defender of the Faith".

    The reverse of the coin features 6 lines of words. The coin reads, "Peace, prosperity and friendship, with all nations" (in cursive) "31 January 2020" (in the normal Royal Mint font).

    On the Royal Mint's website, the coin costs £10, and has an unlimited mintage. The stunning coin comes in an incredible folder case. The folder has two green stripes and one crimson stripe in the center. In the crimson stripe, the Gate of the House of Commons is featured at the top, with the reverse of the coin showing below that. Below the capsule with the reverse of the coin showing, the words, "A VOTE TO LEAVE AND A NEW ERA" are featured. Below that, the words "Withdrawal from the European Union 2020 UK 50p BU Coin". Inside the folder, the obverse of the coin in the capsule is revealed, along with a description of the historic event.

    The second coin we will talk about in this first part of the article is the 2020 50 Pence Withdrawal from the European Union Silver Proof coin. The coin itself has the same features as the first coin, with the exceptions that this coin is of proof quality and made of .925 silver. Furthermore, this second coin has a mintage of only 47,000. Along with this, the obverse and reverse of the coin are the same as the first coin mentioned. 

Now, let's talk about British and European Union relations. Britain first joined the European Union in 1973 when it was called the European Economic Committee. At that time, West Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark, Ireland and Britain were in the European Union. When Britain joined, a treaty was made stating that instead of the usual policy of nations needing to adopt the Euro as its official currency, the United Kingdom could stay on the British Pound. The United Kingdom had attempted to join in 1963 and 1967, however French President Charles de Gaulle had rejected their membership twice. However, after de Gaulle stepped down in 1969, the UK sent a final application which was accepted. Throughout its history within the EU, the United Kingdom did the normal things an EU member did, and contributed to its economy and participated in European Union activities. The popularity of European Union membership among Britons varied through the years, with its least popular of times in Margaret Thatcher's first year in office (1980). In 2016, a referendum was held with the British people asking to leave the European Union. Following the referendum, British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned and was replaced with Theresa May. There was a lot of gridlock within Parliament on the matter. Theresa May later resigned and was replaced with the now Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Labours and Conservatives agreed to a general election in 2019. The Labours hoped to reduce the Conservative majority to show the British people had changed their minds on Brexit, while Conservatives attempted to hold their majority. Following the election, the Conservatives not only managed to hold on to their lead, but greatly expanded it. After this election, the Conservatives made great success and finally, after 4 years, left the European Union on the 31st of January 2020, at 2300 hours. 

    From the interesting coinage, to a current event, the coinage produced by the Royal Mint truly captures the idea of Brexit for generations to come. 

    THIS IS THE 1st PART OF THIS ARTICLE. Part 2 will come out soon, in which I will discuss the two other British coins that have been released. So please, stick around. 

PLEASE CITE THIS ARTICLE IF ANY INFORMATION FROM IT IS USED FROM IT VIA THE CITATION BELOW!!

Gokhale, Rishi. (2020). Issue 3:- Cool Brexit Coinage (Part 1):- Numismatic News by Rishi Gokhale (a Young Numismatist). (Blog) American Numismatic Association Blog. Available at: https://www.money.org/collector/user_53367/blog/issue-3-cool-brexit-coinage-part-1-numismatic-news-by-rishi-gokhale-a-young-numismatist- [Accessed 1 Feb. 2020].

My Sources:-

https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/withdrawal-from-the-european-union-2020/

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces194693.html

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces194694.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union-United_Kingdom_relations