Newsletter: December 2023
It has been a busy and eventful year at the Royal Mint Museum, during which we celebrated the Coronation of Charles III, reached the milestone of 1,000 loans of our reminiscence boxes and worked hard to share the history of the Royal Mint with people all over the world. Take a look below for some of our highlights.
January
In January 2023 we were pleased to announce the appointment of Mario Pisani to the Royal Mint Museum Board of Trustees.
Mario is Senior Civil Servant at His Majesty’s Treasury, where he currently serves as Deputy Director for the Financial Stability Group.
Mario is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and sits on the Council of the Society of Professional Economists. He holds degrees in economics and is a qualified accountant.
February
In February our collections team took part in a training session run by Connect-Conserve Cymru on behalf of the Welsh Government department of Culture to familiarise them with waterlogged material and help them to manage the salvage and protection of collections should the worst happen.
March
March 2023 was all about outreach. Our Museum Education Manager, Amy Williams, and the Museum Assistant, Megan James, visited Coed Y Dderwen Primary school to deliver a sustainability workshop as part of the Royal Mint’s community outreach programme.
In addition, our hard-working Curators gave ten talks to visitors and external groups. From Newport Golf Club and Cwmbran Historical Society, to the Governor of the Bank of Eswatini, our team talked about the history of the Royal Mint, helped with research into the use of sovereigns in Greece and demonstrated how the Royal Mint harnesses the power of nature to run the manufacturing plant. To book a talk or virtual visit for your organisation you can contact us via our website: https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/quick-links/contact-us/
April
In April the Museum team had the pleasure of visiting the Newport Ship, a fifteenth-century merchant vessel unearthed in the heart of Newport in 2002.
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 our brand new project coming in 2024. Watch this space for future announcements!
May
May was all about the Coronation in the Royal Mint Museum. It was a time for public celebration, symbolising the transition from one reign to the next, a change which many people will not have experienced in their lifetimes. The Museum team were ready to reach out and share stories from our collection showing the history of these transitions while looking forward to the future developments in the reign of King Charles III.
On 6th May, the coronation day, we opened our latest exhibition which explores both the traditions and formalities of the coronation itself, as well as the period of change that follows.
You can book a tour and see the exhibition for yourself at the Royal Mint Experience in Llantrisant South Wales.
June
In June the Museum team played host to delegates from around the world at the annual Royal Mint Coin Management Training Programme. This week-long interactive programme invites attendees from central banks and mints around the world to gain an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of coin management.
A visit to the Royal Mint Museum forms part of the programme, allowing delegates to learn about the rich history of the Royal Mint and about the preservation and development of the Museum collection. The whole team was delighted to get involved and together we hosted delegates from across the globe, including Bermuda, Malawi, Ghana, and Nepal.
July
July saw the Museum team reach a grand total of 1,000 Reminiscence Box loans! Our team shared a cake to celebrate and our 1,000th recipient, Harper Fields Care Home in Coventry, received a box of biscuits, Yorkshire Gold tea and bunting to throw a celebratory tea party of their own.
If you would like to borrow a box, please check out https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/collection/borrowabox/ or email borrowabox@royalmintmuseum.org.uk This service is completely free and is available with transcripts and audio to run Welsh language workshops
August
In August the Museum was joined by Midlands4Cities Doctoral Candidate Daniel Rignall. Daniel’s research expertise is the interpretation of the Bible in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and his work lent valuable context to our coins of the same period. You can read more here. Daniel also catalogued many of the Museum’s medals and dies from the period, contributing to the Museum’s ongoing inventory project, and getting unparalleled first-hand experience of the historic items involved in the production of these coins.
September
In September we had the great privilege of awarding the prizes to our Crossing Continents short story competition winner. The Education Manager, Amy Williams, and Museum’s Project Coordinator, Beth James, visited Cothill Prep School in Oxfordshire to give them a £5000 book voucher for the school library and presenting winning author, Muduo Wang, with a framed copy of his professionally illustrated story and an annual coin set at a special assembly attended by the whole school.
You can read the winning story and register your interest in our upcoming competition on our website.
October
The Royal Mint Museum team were delighted to be part of the Welsh Museums Advocacy Day at the Senedd in October. The Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru and the Museums Association co-organised the important event that celebrated the contribution of Welsh Museums to the people of Wales. Our stall highlighted how we have supported community wellbeing and engagement with our Reminiscence Boxes.
November
The Royal Mint Museum always has lots of interesting things going on and in November we took some time out to share our work with our colleagues at the Royal Mint. Our team held a very successful ‘canteen roadshow’ in which we talked to people about our work and shared details about some of our upcoming projects. We also shared highlights from our school workshops, including the opportunity for people to strike their own medieval coin.
December
To end this fantastic year we are bringing you tales from the Museum store on our social media channels. Our tooling store contains over 150,000 objects which cover almost 800 years of Royal Mint history and we are constantly working to preserve these objects and explore the stories they tell. This year alone we have created and enhanced the records for approximately 10,000 new dies and plaster models that have come into our care from the Royal Mint. These tools form a working collection as both a reference and an inspiration for researchers and modern designers. Follow us on Facebook and X for more!
Thank you for following and supporting the Museum in 2023. If you would like to be a part of our story in 2024 then reach out and let us know. You can take part in work experience, order a reminiscence box, carry out research, book a talk from one of our curators, receive a virtual visit to your school, or enter our latest short story competition. From all of our team we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!