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Newsletter: February 2026

Welcome to the February edition of the Royal Mint Museum Newsletter. This month we have been busy behind the scenes celebrating our birthday, getting more objects ready to go onto our online collection, launching our nationwide short story competition and giving talks about our work. We hope you enjoy reading about our latest initiatives, milestones and activities.

Short Story Competition

We’re delighted to announce that the Royal Mint Museum’s annual Short Story Competition is now officially open for entries!

Our popular nationwide contest, now in its sixth year, invites young writers aged 7 to 11 to submit an original story of up to 500 words, all inspired by this year’s theme: Gold. From hidden treasure and glittering hoards to secret vaults and shimmering adventures, we can’t wait to see how children bring the magic of gold to life on the page.

Entries are now being accepted online or by post and will remain open until 17 April 2026. Full details, inspiration pages and optional story planning worksheets are available on our website to spark ideas and support young authors as they write their stories.

Graphic design to represent the gold theme for the Royal Mint Museum Short Story competition featuring melted gold being poured into crucibles and gold coins

This year’s winner will receive a gold coin, £5,000 for their school or local library and the incredible opportunity to have their story professionally illustrated.

We wish all our young writers the very best of luck!

If you have any questions, please contact:storycompetition@royalmintmuseum.org.uk

 

Happy 210th Birthday to the Royal Mint Museum!

While the Royal Mint has existed for over 1,100 years, it was not until 1816 that a Museum was formally established within its walls. First created as a reference collection for engravers, it has since grown into one of the finest collections of coins and related material in the world.

A display set up in the royal mint canteen to celebrate the royal mint museums 210th birthday

For more than two centuries, the Museum has remained dedicated to collecting, caring for and sharing the remarkable story of the Royal Mint. To mark this special milestone, the Museum team held a small celebration in the staff canteen, complete with cake, refreshments and a moment to reflect on our shared achievements. The anniversary has given us the chance to look back at all we have done, reminding us of the vital role our history and heritage continue to play in shaping our future.

Cup cakes with edible paper 50ps on top

More Objects for Collection Online

In preparation for the release of another batch of records on our Collection Online site, our photographer has been busy documenting 300 early coinage tools. These remarkable objects date from the reign of Edward III (1312–77) to Queen Anne (1702–14) and include:

•    dies, used to strike coins
•    punches, used to create the dies
•    medieval hand held tools such as the pile and trussel

 

A man in a museum store room with shelves around him looking at photographs on a laptop with camera equipment behind him

Where punches and medieval tools would have been used by hand, the early modern dies would have been mounted in a large manually operated screw press. Coinage tools from the medieval and early modern periods survive in very limited numbers, and the Royal Mint Museum’s assemblage, particularly from the mid seventeenth century, is larger and more varied than any other collection in the United Kingdom. Their significance extends across industrial, metallurgical, artistic and numismatic history. Watch out for news of their release.

 

Sussex Coin Club

Our team always enjoys getting out into the community to share the work we do, and we recently had the pleasure of doing just that with the Sussex Coin Club.

Our Digital Experience Lead, Susie, received a warm welcome from members while offering a rare glimpse inside the Royal Mint Museum store. The store houses thousands of fascinating objects relating to the manufacture of coins, medals and seals, including dies, plaster models and an array of tiny punches used to create details, such as letters, numbers, wreaths and crowns.

A group of people sat in chairs facing a screen with a presentation which reads behind the scenes at the royal mint museum

Susie’s talk ranged from the artistry of Royal Mint engravers to the often unseen work of conservation, including the reality and challenges of the three years spent cataloguing, cleaning and coating thousands of objects. 

The session provided a brilliant opportunity to highlight why our collection is such a rich and valuable record of social history and the room buzzed with curiosity and insightful questions.

If you're organising an event and think your audience would enjoy hearing from one of our team, we’d love to connect. Contact us at museum.enquiries@royalmintmuseum.org.uk

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