Newsletter: January 2026
As we welcome a fresh new year at the Royal Mint Museum, January has already brought a flurry of activity. From the return of our nation-wide Short Story Competition to uncovering fascinating stories from our archives, 2026 is off to an exciting start. We’re delighted to share some of the highlights from this month and offer a glimpse into what’s coming next.
Short Story Competition opening soon
We’re excited to share that the Royal Mint Museum’s annual Short Story Competition will be opening very soon for its sixth year.
This popular competition 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 across the country bring the magic of gold to life on the page.
Our team is already hard at work getting everything ready to start receiving entries from 16 February, and we’re eagerly looking forward to reading every imaginative story that comes our way.
Full details, inspiration pages, and optional story planning worksheets will are now available on our website. Entries will be accepted online or by post until 17 April 2026.
The winner will receive a gold coin, £5,000 for their school or local library, and the wonderful opportunity to have their story professionally illustrated.
We wish all our young writers the very best of luck!
For questions, contact us at: storycompetition@royalmintmuseum.org.uk
Brew Monday
This January, our team marked Brew Monday with a much needed moment of connection. Inspired by the Samaritans’ campaign to replace the idea of “Blue Monday” with something far more positive, we took the opportunity to put the kettle on, and check in with one another.
As a small team working towards big goals, taking time to talk, listen and support each other is essential. Brew Monday offered the perfect reminder that even a simple cuppa can spark meaningful conversations and help strengthen the bonds that make our work possible.
Museum Director attends launch of privy mark sovereign
We were pleased to see our Director, Dr Kevin Clancy, take part in the launch of an exclusive 2025 bullion sovereign created by the Royal Mint for Piraeus Bank. The event in Athens marked 15 years of collaboration between the two organisations.
The limited edition coins, each featuring the distinctive Hellenic ‘ΕΛ’ privy mark, celebrates the sovereign’s deep cultural significance in Greece, where it served as an unofficial currency during the Second World War and remains highly prized today.
As the author of A History of the Sovereign: Chief Coin of the World, Dr Clancy was pleased to represent the Museum at this important occasion which highlighted the global legacy of the sovereign and its continued relevance in both heritage and modern collecting.
New podcast episodes on the way
We’ve been back in the studio this month as we dig into our archives in preparation for a new series of The Secret Life of Coins podcast. Eagle eyed readers may even spot some of the original staff records open in front of us in the picture below. These documents are now available to explore through our Online Library and we have been using them to help us tell stories.
Every month, the Museum receives enquiries from people researching their family history at the Royal Mint. These are some of our favourite requests. With staff records spanning several centuries, we’re often able to help trace careers, uncover fascinating details, and occasionally reveal the dramatic twists and turns experienced by Mint employees of the past.
We can’t reveal too much just yet, but one of the stories we discovered, centred on a lifelong Mint man of the nineteenth century, will be featured in an upcoming episode. It’s a remarkable tale, and we can’t wait to share it with you.