Newsletter: April 2023

Sustainability workshops

The Royal Mint Experience recently hosted winners of Infinite Renewables green energy poster competition. Infinite Renewables are a renewable energy developer who have been working with the Royal Mint on sustainability projects.

The competition was aimed at local primary schools who were asked to design a bilingual poster promoting green energy. Part of the prize was to attend a special workshop delivered by the Royal Mint Museum.

The workshop highlighted work the Mint is currently doing to become more sustainable focusing on the big things such as renewable energy generation as well as smaller scale community and staff projects.

The pupils took part in a hands-on activity to make their own miniature working wind turbines which they took home at the end of the day.

The workshop is due to run again later in the term for further competition winners.

Exhibition changeover

We said goodbye this month to our Jubilee Exhibition. Installed on 6th February 2022, Happy and Glorious, a Celebration of Royal Jubilees was opened at the Royal Mint Experience to coincide with the Platinum Jubilee of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The exhibition explored the evolution of Jubilees throughout British history through a variety of objects and images.

 

Our Exhibitions Manager, Abigail Kenvyn, is now working hard to install a brand new exhibition ‘Crowned: the making of a King’, opening on 6th May.

If you didn’t get the chance to see the Jubilee displays for yourself then don’t worry. You will soon be able to explore them in digital form on our website!

Newport Ship

This month the Museum team had the pleasure of visiting the Newport Ship, a fifteenth century merchant vessel unearthed in the heart of Newport in 2002. Work on the Riverfront arts centre was paused while excavations could take place, and the timbers have since been undergoing a lengthy conservation process so the ship can be displayed to the public.

Of particular interest was a coin a French “petit blanc”, literally ‘little white’, a low value coin found within the keel of the ship. It is believed to have been put there for good luck as there was a superstition at the time that a cargo ship that had no money doomed its owners to failure.

The visit was part of a collaboration with other Museums across the country for a brand new project coming in 2024. Watch this space for future announcements!

Museum on the mound

Megan James, our Museum Assistant, travelled to Edinburgh at the beginning of the month to visit the Museum on the Mound, who have been running brilliant workshops on coins and banknotes. The Royal Mint Museum is delighted to be involved in these workshops every year by providing specimens of coins and information about the work of the Mint. Megan was welcomed by Education Officer Hannah Nicolson and Activity Session Leader Phoebe Triandafyllou, who spent the day running fully booked sessions. Megan thoroughly enjoyed all of the workshops, learnt so much about the production, security measures and recycling of Scottish banknotes, and was able to share the expertise of the Royal Mint. Many thanks to the Museum on the Mound team for an informative and memorable visit!