Newsletter: May 2026
May has been a vibrant and engaging month for the Royal Mint Museum, filled with creativity, discovery and behind-the-scenes expertise.
We were delighted to celebrate the winners of our Children’s Short Story Competition, where young writers across the UK explored the theme of ‘Gold’, while our Podcast team has been on location at Reading Museum uncovering the story behind a remarkable Victorian recreation of the Bayeux Tapestry. Meanwhile, our research team continues their vital work authenticating coins, combining advanced scientific analysis with historic expertise.
We hope you enjoy this month’s highlights!
Children’s Short Story Competition
We have a winner!
Based around the topic of 'Gold', the Royal Mint Museum hosted a short story competition open to all 7- to 11-year-olds in the United Kingdom.
Congratulations to 7-year-old Marlowe Askew-Smith who won first prize for her story ‘The Gold Fox’.
Her delightful story is about a girl who makes a gold fox that comes to life and attracts the attention of a lonely king. It charmed our judge Dan Thomas, King’s Assay Master, who said: “I would read this to my own children. It’s an incredibly uplifting story that shows gold is precious to us all for many reasons other than its value”.
Marlowe has won a gold coin for herself, £25 National Book Tokens, £5,000 worth of Peters equipment and books for her school library, and her story will be illustrated by Laura K Sayers.
First Place - The Gold Fox by Marlowe Askew-Smith, 7.
Second Place - Oakley and the Mountain of Gold by Oakley Howe, 10.
Third Place - The Dragon’s Gold by Lucas Zheng, 11.
5 Runners up:
- Trysor y Tylwyth Teg/The Fairies’ Treasure gan Buddug Williams, 9.
- The Sovereign’s Journey by Valentina Sefain, 9.
- The Jungle of Gold by Wren Price-Evans, 8.
- Where is the Gold?/Ble Mae’r Aur? by Gigi Di Battista, 7.
- GOLD by Reya Nagari, 11.
10 Highly Commended:
- Operation Fish by Reyad Imran-Mir, 11.
- The Heist by Mason Marsh, 10.
- Jamie and the Golden Secret of the Philippines by Jamie Froom, 7.
- Macaroni Mouse and the Castle by Zachary Hyde, 7.
- The Golden Games by Sam Plant, 8.
- My Treasure Garden by Harris Gould, 8.
- Gold Never Lets You Down by Kiara Gupta, 8.
- The Golden Wish by Thomas Smith, 11.
- The Power of Gold by Preet Kaur Bains, 8.
- I Think There’s a Panda in My Back Garden by Braxton Kelsey, 7.
Secret Life of Coins Podcast
This month, the Podcast team visited Reading Museum to speak with the curatorial team for an upcoming episode of The Secret Life of Coins. With the excitement of the Bayeux Tapestry arriving in the United Kingdom later this year, we wanted to speak to the team who have for years been conserving and telling the story of an intricate Victorian recreation housed at Reading Museum.
At 70 metres long, both the Tapestry and its reproduction chronicle the legendary tale of the Norman conquest of England, when William the Conqueror invaded and defeated King Harold Godwinson. The reproduction is painstakingly intricate, reproducing every single stitch of the original, and the work of a group of late nineteenth century embroiderers.
But what does all of this have to do with The Secret Life of Coins? You’ll have to wait to find out, with new episodes coming out later this year!
To keep up to date with the latest episodes be sure to follow us to Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your favourite shows.
Behind the Scenes: Coin Authentication
Our research team review and authenticate hundreds of submitted coins every year, and a laboratory visit is just one part of the extensive process of determining whether a coin is a genuine product of the Royal Mint.
Examination via X-ray fluorescence spectrometry allows our team to get a clear picture of the metallic composition of a coin, broken down by elements of the periodic table. The analysis penetrates slightly below the surface of the coin, allowing us to determine its composition without any damage to the coin.
Once our team have the compositional reading of a coin, these figures are compared to the historical data held in our archive and the production specifications for currently circulating coins. Alongside a physical examination of the coin, and comparison against specimens held in the Museum collection, this testing goes a long way towards helping us discern genuine historic Royal Mint coins from replicas and counterfeits.