The Royal Mint Museum has one of the finest collections of coins, medals, artwork and minting equipment in the world. A living and working collection, it reflects the changing practical needs of the Royal Mint and is widely respected for the knowledge of its staff and the quality of its research.
The Museum collection was established in 1816 by the Master of the Royal Mint, William Wellesley Pole. One of his main objectives was to provide Royal Mint engravers with an inspirational source of material to which they could refer when preparing new coin designs, and this remains an important function for the collection.
Online Library
In collaboration with Townsweb Archiving, our Collections team have been working on an exciting project to help more people than ever gain access to our archives. PastView is an online publishing platform which allows us to showcase our digital collections and the first entries on our new PastView webpages are the Waterloo Medal Roll, the Royal Mint Annual Reports (1870-1976) and the Royal Mint Museum Annual Reports (2011-2020).
Royal Mint Museum Reminiscence Box
The Royal Mint Museum Reminiscence Box project is an opportunity for those living in residential care to interact with a part of our museum collection and share memories from their lives. The box is a free activity resource, containing genuine and replica items, audio-description and storytelling, and activity guidance for care workers.
Crowned
We stand at the threshold of a new era, the beginning of the reign of His Majesty King Charles III. At the centre of this transition was his Coronation held in Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023, a defining moment for the new King and for British national identity.
Collection highlights
Coins
The Museum collection contains over 80,000 coins which span from ancient times to the modern day.
Medals
The Royal Mint Museum contains some 12,000 medals, dating mainly from the beginning of the 19th century.
Seals
Over the past 100 years the Museum has accumulated a large collection of material relating to seals.
Artwork and Plaster Models
This section of the collection comprises artists’ drawings and plaster models for coins and medals.
Master Tools and Dies
The most distinctive element of the Museum is the collection of some 30,000 master tools and dies.
Minting Equipment
The Royal Mint Museum is fortunate to possess coining and blanking presses from 100 or so years ago.
Weights
From the start of coinage, accuracy of weight and composition has been vital for its integrity.
Trial Plates
The Museum is home to a spectacular series of gold and silver trial plates dating from 1477.
Miscellaneous Objects
The Museum cares for a rich variety of objects related in some way to the long history of the Royal Mint.
Films and Photographs
Not unnaturally, perhaps, film-makers have always been keen to record footage of the Royal Mint in operation.
Library and Archive
The Royal Mint Museum contains a valuable numismatic library of some 15,000 volumes.
Sarah Sophia Banks Library
Soon after the establishment of the Royal Mint Museum in 1816 the collection was enhanced by a substantial gift of coins and medals from the estate of Sarah Sophia Banks.
Curated collections
Thomas Simon collection
The work of the engraver Thomas Simon spanned a turbulent period of England's history.
Jubilee collection
The Royal Mint Museum has an outstanding collection of material relating to Jubilee celebrations.
Decimal collection
The Royal Mint Museum has an outstanding collection of material relating to decimalisation.
William Wyon collection
The Museum collection houses object relating to one of the finest engravers ever to produce designs for the coinage of Britain.