In for a penny, in for 2 quid

15 December 2008

british_two_pound_coin_2009_charles_darwin

In anticipation of next year’s bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin, I’ve just treated myself one of the limited edition (25,000) 2009 Charles Darwin Â£2 coins from the Royal Mint, who describe it thusly:

This commemorative Â£2 coin for 2009 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin as well as the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. The reverse of the coin, designed by Suzie Zamit, features a profile portrait of Charles Darwin and a chimpanzee together with the denomination TWO POUNDS, the year dates 1809 and 2009 and DARWIN. The presentation folder tells the story of Charles Darwinâ€™s life and achievements and includes a reproduction of original drawings he made during his travels.

Sweet.

They also have a bunch of other science and nature related coinage, including these awesome ones featuring the endangered Hamilton’s Frog.

Be warned, though, the site is damned slow.

And, yes, I am an amateur numismatist, even though the vast majority of my collection is still (probably tarnishing) in my dad’s shed.

‘In God We Trust‘?

Nah. I’d rather have Charlie and a chimp.

No other posts are likely to be like this.

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Tags: Charles Darwin, evolution, fin, finance, personal

Comments

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6065 ResponsesIn+for+a+penny%2C+in+for+2+quid2008-12-15+17%3A15%3A40nullifidian to “In for a penny, in for 2 quid”

T_W on December 15th, 2008 10:30 am

Is this available on its own or only as part of a set? The link to the royal mint in your post seems to be broken, but I found a page at http://www.royalmint.com/store/UKCDBU.aspxwhich works – however this only sells it at £7.78 as part of a pack.

Call me old fashioned but I object to paying nearly £8 for a £2 coin even in this inflationary period…

( ;-) )
T_W on December 15th, 2008 10:30 am

Is this available on its own or only as part of a set? The link to the royal mint in your post seems to be broken, but I found a page at http://www.royalmint.com/store/UKCDBU.aspxwhich works – however this only sells it at £7.78 as part of a pack.

Call me old fashioned but I object to paying nearly £8 for a £2 coin even in this inflationary period…

( :-) )
T_W on December 15th, 2008 10:31 am

Is this available on its own or only as part of a set? The link to the royal mint in your post seems to be broken, but I found a page at http://www.royalmint.com/store/UKCDBU.aspxwhich works – however this only sells it at £7.78 as part of a pack.

Call me old fashioned but I object to paying nearly £8 for a £2 coin even in this inflationary period…

:-)
JTDMan on December 16th, 2008 2:41 am

Thanks for the tip! In for one – it costs 13.77 pounds with shipping to the US which equates to about 21 bucks. Worth it to me.
yunshui on December 16th, 2008 3:33 am

Actually that design pisses me off a bit – it's remarkably close to the Ape-man cartoon and seems to stress the connection between evolution and the "we iz done all evovulated from teh monkees" strawman bollocks that YECs are so fond of.

Mind you, it's pretty clear that the Royal Mint has no clue about Darwin's work – check out the £10 note, with its conspicous hummingbird. Anyone remember Darwin's seminal work on hummingbirds? Thought not…