THE PROOF COIN IS IN THE PUDDING!

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V26 2023 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 26, Number 51, December 17, 2023, Article 13

Fresh white coins
The Birmingham Daily Post on 26th December 1889 commented that there is always a great demand for new coins from Royal Mint at Christmas for gifts to postmen, messengers, family. Most people want a fresh white shilling, florin or crown. Even the thrifty threepence were in demand for puddings. It is interesting that new coins are described as white.

Sickly coins
On 25th December 1925 the Western Gazette reported that the Royal Mint normally issued more coins at Christmas. In previous years silver threepences were popular but that had declined because they turn a bilious (sickly) colour when cooked! Before 1920 coins contained 92.5% silver. Perhaps the colour change related to the reduced bullion content.

A Christmas Wreath will cheer you up.
In 1928, the Wreath Type silver crown designed by Kruger Gray was very popular and the issue was continued for several years at the request of the Bank of England who liked to stock them at Christmas time to give them to good clients. The mintages of crown were always quite low for the normal currency pieces and are now scarce and valuable.

Silver coins in Christmas puddings
The Dundee Evening telegraph on 15th December 1937 reported on revival of the custom of coins in puddings led to an increased demand for new silver threepences of George VI. The neat silver threepence had taken a fancy to the public, but many of the new twelve sided coins were being hoarded by collectors. The paper said it would of course be dangerous to put the twelve sided ones in puddings.

Dark pennies
There were dark times (no pun intended!) ahead for the penny in the 1930s. After the enormous demand of the First World War period no pennies were required from 1923 to 1925 and again in 1933 none were needed for circulation. The Royal Mint dulled the colour of the penny in 1934. The Deputy Master of the Royal Mint wrote the following in his Annual Report of 1934 about the darkening of pennies:

"… the constant demand for bright new pennies, so much desired for the Christmas stocking, a demand which is spurious to the extent that it is followed, as it often is, by inconvenience to the Banks when the young recipients disgorge their treasures in exchange for other delights which subsequently appeal still more to their taste. Last Christmas, therefore, I felt compelled to meet these views of the Bankers and arranged that all new pence, for the time being, should be issued only after their attractive sheen had first been removed. I am glad to be able to report that, in view of the clear evidence we now have of a very large increase in the genuine demand for pennies this year, the precaution has not proved necessary."

This seems an odd statement to make. It sounds as though they had made a mistake in stopping production in 1933 of pennies and were blaming parents for giving new pennies to children who then spent them on other delights. I wonder if dulling the lustre made much difference to children determined to buy a bar of chocolate.

Hidden danger in Christmas puddings!
In 2005, British supermarket chain, Sainsbury, decided to add sixpence coins to their puddings. They spent months trying to obtain enough coins, only to give up on the idea as the "lucky sixpences" "constitute a choking hazard". "We can't supply the coin already mixed into the pudding," a spokesman said. "Instead we have provided a collector's card with the coin attached that you can place under a plate or table mat for one lucky friend or family member to find." Many shop-bought Christmas puddings were then heated in a microwave oven, leaving metal coins in the mix could be dangerous, the store added.