Yahoo Finance Britain minting Brexit coins for 31 January deadline
A new 50 pence coin to commemorate Brexit has been ordered by the government — the third one slated for production.
A royal proclamation issued in the name of the Queen at the start of the month approved the production of “coins in gold, silver, and cupro-nickel marking the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.”
The coins will be inscribed with the date of ‘31 January 2020’, the day the UK is set to officially leave the European Union.
A spokesperson for the Treasury told Bloomberg the commemorative coins “will be introduced into circulation on the day the UK leaves the EU.”
It marks the third time the government has planned to mint commemorative Brexit 50ps. The new coins were originally planned for 29 March, 2019 but the delay to Brexit scuppered these plans. They hadn’t yet been minted when the Brexit deadline was pushed back to October 31.
About one million coins stamped with the 31 October date were minted before Brexit was again delayed. These coins, ordered by chancellor Sajid Javid, had to be melted down and recycled by the Royal Mint after the delay.
The Conservative party’s decisive win in the December general election has allowed Prime Minister Boris Johnson to push ahead with Brexit and the UK is now set to officially leave the EU on 31 January, 2020.
The new Brexit coins are not expected to enter general circulation but are likely to be aimed at collectors.
When questioned about the cost of the one million melted-down coins, the Royal Mint told the Daily Telegraph in November that taxpayers would foot the bill but “the value from the materials will be recouped by the Exchequer.”
