London Mint Office

The London Mint Office regularly offers coins to customers for free, excluding a postage fee and optional personalisation fee. These free coins are usually part of a larger collection, which can then be sent to customers on approval, and charged for if not returned.[4][5] Customers have 14 days to return unwanted coins at no cost, provided they retain proof of posting or purchase the correct level of postal insurance.[6] This 14 day policy was extended to 3 months, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company targets new customers through direct response advertising and telemarketing and has significantly invested in data profiling techniques.[7] Coins are typically issued to commemorate anniversaries of military or royal events, and are rarely legal tender.

The 2017 Gibraltar Sovereign was created by Angela Pistrucci as a tribute to her ancestor Benedetto Pistrucci's masterwork.

In 2017, The London Mint Office celebrated the bicentennial of artist Benedetto Pistrucci's work Saint George and the dragon which has appeared on UK gold sovereigns since 1817. The company discovered that his great-great-great great niece, Angela Pistrucci had become an accomplished artist and sculptor in her own right. They the Canadian artist to create a new interpretation of her ancestor's famous design.[8][9] Pistrucci was subsequently awarded a scholarship to hone her craft at the Italian Mint.

The London Mint Office regularly attends coin exhibitions and numismatic events, including the annual Berlin World Money Fair.[10] The event is part-owned by Samlerhuset, the parent company of the London Mint Office.

In 2012 The London Mint Office arrange a tour with the Smithsonian to exhibit the world's most expensive gold coin, the 1933 Double Eagle.[11] The exhibition was part of a European tour organised by the Samlerhuset Group. In 2016, The London Mint Office hosted the UK exhibition of the Flowing Hair Dollar, the world's most expensive coin, selling for $10 million at auction in 2013.[12]

In 2015, the Duke of Wellington unveiled a memorial in Waterloo station, to those who died at Waterloo, which was funded by the London Mint Office.[13][14]

The following year, The London Mint Office celebrated the centenary of the Battle of Britain by putting a reporter in a war-time Spitfire plane. They also presented military wife, Caroline Lloyd with a silver commemorative medal in honour of the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations.[15]

In October 2017 the company issued the UK's first 'Comicoin', struck for the MCM London Comic Con that year. Visitors to the exhibition at the ExCeL London could queue to receive the free commemorative as a souvenir of their visit.[16]

In November 2017 the company presented a married couple with a personalised commemorative medal to celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary. They married in 1947, in the same year as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. The presentation took place at Luton Hoo, where the Royal couple had spent their honeymoon seventy years earlier.[17]

In August 2018 the company presented Porthcawl Museum with a selection of replica documents from the National Archives, that once briefed Squadron 617 ahead of their 'Dambusters' mission over Nazi Germany in May 1943. The company donated a commemorative coin issued to mark the 75th anniversary of the mission.[18][19]

In January 2019, The London Mint Office had commissioned Norwegian artist Ross Kolby to paint a portrait of "The Forces' Sweetheart" Dame Vera Lynn. The painting will hang in the Royal Albert Hall in London where Dame Vera has performed on 52 occasions.[20]

In May 2019 the company presented a gold coin commemorating the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the world's largest gold nugget to the mayor of Redruth in Cornwall. The Welcome Stranger was discovered in Australia by two Cornish prospectors, and the company organised an appeal to find descendants still living in Cornwall.[21]

In 2012, the company was commissioned by the Organisation Committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games as an official licensee.[1] The London Mint Office has partnered with charities including Waterloo 200, the Merchant Navy Association and the RAF Association, where a percentage of proceeds from sales of coins and medals were donated to their relevant charity.[22]

The London Mint Office has on occasion partnered with the Worcestershire Medal Service, holders of a royal warrant as medallists to Her Majesty The Queen.[23]

In 2016 The London Mint Office and PR agency Loudmouth PR won a Bronze Stevie Award in ‘PR Campaign of the Year – Events and Observances’ at the 13th Annual International Business Awards for its Waterloo 200 Campaign.[24]