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Pobjoy Mint Ltd.

The Pobjoy family have been associated with fine metalwork since the Middle Ages. The Company was recently granted permission to use the family Coat of Arms in which the Medieval Popinjay is the central motif. The Popinjay was a painted wooden parrot used in archery contests in the 14th century and the name Pobjoy is derived from this. The Latin motto 'OCULO CERTO' means 'with an unerring eye' and applies equally to the ancestor's prowess as a marksman, as to the Company's reputation for the high quality and precision of its products. Over the past three centuries, the Company has been involved in many diverse fields, but they have always been involved in metal, both base and precious. During World War II Pobjoy Aero Engineering was involved in the manufacturing of the famous Spitfire wings. They are now the largest private mint in Europe.

As manufacturers of gold chains, gilt and enamel badges and escutcheons, regalia and insignia of all kinds, they have been contractors to the Crown Agents and prestigious London jewellers, for whom them have executed numerous commissions involving precious metals and gemstones of all kinds. The Pobjoy Mint employs 100 skilled craftsmen and technicians. Of these, a team of 18 jewellers and goldsmiths are employed in the Jewellery Department alone, working to designs specially created for the Mint by some of the acknowledged sculptors and metal works of the present day. Some of the individual pieces have won high awards internationally in recent years.

For the past 100 years the Company has been deeply involved in the development and manufacture of coins, medals and tokens. It is worth noting that the production of fraud-proof tokens for the vending machine industry calls for a higher degree of precision than the ordinary coinage, and the Pobjoy Mint now has some 96 per cent of this market in the United Kingdom. Since 1969, 370 million medals and tokens have been exported to the Far East and over 300 million promotional medals have been produced for many petrol stations and food stores.

The Pobjoy Mint has revived many age-old, but long-forgotten numismatic customs. At the same time, however, it has been in the forefront of numismatic development and has acquired an enviable reputation as a trendsetter. It developed the world's first satisfactory man-made precious metal, called Virenium, which has been successfully used in high denomination coinage since 1978. This was hailed worldwide as the first significant breakthrough in coinage this century.

The Mint has also developed coining equipment. Apart from the circulating coinage produced on high speed presses, it has made a speciality of the deluxe pieces sought after by numismatic connoisseurs. The proof coins are individually struck by hand, at least four times each, on specially polished discs of precious metal.

A successful achievement has been the introduction of the Noble, a Bullion coin containing one ounce of pure platinum, and the Gold Bullion Angel. The Gold Angel has already achieved the reputation of winning the 'Best Gold Coin of the World' Award in the USA and is quoted daily in the Financial Times and on the screens of Reuters.

This was followed by the launch on 9 December 1988 of the first Bullion Gold 999.9 Manx Cat coin produced by Pobjoy Mint. Available in five Bullion Fine 999.9 Gold sizes, Proof Fine 999. Silver and Uncirculated Cupro Nickel, colored and non-colored, a different Cat coin is produced each year and is now over 21 years old.

The Pobjoy Mint has struck commemorative, circulating and pattern coins for the Isle of Man, Ascension Islands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bolivia, Burundi, Cook Islands, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Gambia, Gibraltar, Kyrghyzstan, Liberia, Macau, Niue, Peru, Philippines, St Helena, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Spain, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga, Tristan da Cunha, Uzbekistan and Western Samoa.

Many medallion issues have also been produced, notably for Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Arab States. In 1991 the Pobjoy Mint issued on behalf of the Gibraltar Government the first legal tender circulating Ecu with the face value of £50.00, or 75 Ecus. In 1996 Pobjoy Mint issued the world's first hologram coin, the image is carefully struck in the coin to produce an unusual colour effect and in 1999 the World's first Titanium coin.

The Mint has been successful in supplying the official Regalia, both military and civil, for the Sultan of Oman. It has worked closely with the Ruler of Dubai and produced many official pieces. It is currently under contract to the Ruler of Bahrain and is producing objet d'art in precious metals and natural stones. It has also been privileged to manufacture sumptuous presentation pieces on behalf of several Governments, for presentation to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family.

Awards

Since 1984 when the Pobjoy Mint was awarded its first Coin of the Year Award, various other awards and accolades have been bestowed upon the Mint. These include the prestigious Queen's Award for Export and in 1991 it was nominated in eight categories for the Coin of the Year Award 1990 and was extremely proud when it won four awards including the Overall Coin of the Year;

1984 COTY, Best Gold Coin,Angel, Isle of Man
1987 COTY, Best Crown, Olympic Runner, Cook Islands $50
1990 Winner of Queen's Award for Export Achievement
1990 COTY, Coin of the Year, Penny Black Crown, Isle of Man
1990 COTY, Most Innovative Coinage, Penny Black Crown, Isle of Man
1990 COTY, Most Popular Coin, Alley Cat Crown, Isle of Man
1990 COTY, Best Crown, Penny Black Crown, Isle of Man
1992 Medal of Merit - awarded to Derek Pobjoy by the Board of Governors of the American Numismatic Association for dedication and distinguished service to the ANA.
1993 COTY, Most Popular Coin, Stegosaurus Crown, Gibraltar
1993 Vreneli-Preis awarded to Derek Pobjoy by Münzen-Revue for outstanding contribution to numismatics.
1993 ANA Appreciation Award awarded to Derek Pobjoy by the American Numismatic Association for an outstanding contribution to numismatics.
1994 Children Society Award awarded to Pobjoy Mint for support and participation in the Daily Mail Le Walk Appeal.
1996 COTY, Best Contemporary Event, Peace Rose, Bosnia & Herzegovina
1997 COTY, Most Inspirational Coin, Princess Diana with Mother Teresa, Sierra Leone
1998 COTY, Most Inspirational Coin, Peace Dove, Bosnia & Herzegovina
2001 COTY, Most Inspirational Coin, Florence Nightingale Crown, Gibraltar
2002 COTY, Most Innovative Coin, Currency Converter, Gibraltar
2007 COTY, Most Innovative Coin, Centenary of the First Colour Photo, British Virgin Islands

As can be seen from the aforegoing, the Pobjoy Mint is capable of providing a complete service to its principals; the origination of artwork and the concept of special projects, the design and manufacture, the marketing publicity, sales and distribution worldwide.

'POBJOY, MORE THAN A NAME, A GUARANTEE'

Product of Coins

Every stage of coin production, from the first rough design to the finished proof or circulating coin, is carried on at the Mint in an atmosphere of the strictest security.

Designing a Coin

The initial stages involve many hours of high level discussions between the Mint and the Country concerned. Experts in various fields, from art historians to botanists, may also be consulted to ensure that the proposed design is accurate.

The design for a coin may come from a photograph, a painting or even a piece of sculpture, but it has to be translated into a preliminary drawing in the shape of the eventual coin, together with the lettering value and symbolic elements. From this is assembled a finished design, which is sent to the government body for approval. Any coin which has the Queens effigy on the obverse has also to be submitted to Her Majestys Government and ultimately to Buckingham Palace for the Queens assent. A great deal of time may elapse between the preliminary sketch and the final design, as a result of modifications.


A sculptor preparing a plaster ready to make it into a die

  

Producing a Plaster

Once the designs have been approved, artists of the Sculpting Department sculpt large models from which plaster casts are taken. Many hours are spent working over the plaster before the image is judged to be perfect. A positive impression is taken from the master and this is then sent to the Die-cutting department.


Cutting a plaster into a die
  

Cutting a Die

In the Die Cutting Department, the image is cut on a hob or master die by a steel cutter working in unison with a stylus which moves slowly over the hardened matrix, rather like the needle of a record player, but from the centre to the outer edge. This process takes up to 28 hours. By means of a reducing machine, the design is transferred to a hub in the correct dimensions of the eventual coin. Completed hubs are examined painstakingly through a high-powered magnifier.


A die being polished
  

Hobbing

The next stage, known as hobbing, transfers the image from the hub to the working die. A negative impression is picked up on the die, using a press applying 400 tonnes pressure per square inch.

After turning and milling, the soft steel die is hardened chemically and physically by heating in a special temperature controlled salt bath for about twelve hours, and then quenched in a special solution. This gives the die its unique hardness and the durable qualities needed for the high pressures and the intense clarity required in the coining process. The dies are then ground and polished to a mirror-like finish by hand using ground diamonds. They are then ready for coining.


Preparing the press for striking
  

Coining

The coining metal is supplied in huge coiled strips which are cut into the required shapes by blanking presses under a pressure of 50 tonnes per square inch. After cutting, the blanks are carefully checked for slivers and crescents of surplus metal, and then passed to the annealing and blanching stage, where they are washed and brought to a brilliant light lustre, suitable for coining.

 

  

Proof Coins - The History

The coins which excite the greatest interest among collectors are those prepared and struck specially in deluxe versions. In bygone times, before coins went into general production, a few strikes were made from the die at the beginning and these were preserved as proof that the dies were correctly engraved. Because greater care was taken to ensure good strikes, these proofs tended to differ to the issued coins in the clarity of the impression. From this developed the custom of striking proofs from the specially prepared dies, partly for the records and partly for presentation purposes.


A proof coin being struck
  

Proof Coins - Today

Today proof coins are struck specifically for the collector market. Special dies, often with the high-relief portions of the design frosted, are used in conjunction with blanks polished to an impeccable mirror finish using diamond paste and swansdown pads.

At the Pobjoy Mint, such coins are each struck four times to achieve the sharpest possible impression, then submitted to a microscopic inspection by highly trained staff to ensure that only examples in superlative condition are encapsulated and boxed, along with their certificates of authenticity, for sale to discerning collectors.

 
Uncirculated coins coming off the press
  

Circulating Coins

Circulating coins are struck to very high specifications because of the need to pass the stringent tests of vending machines and the need to stack easily. For these reasons their designs tend to be in very low relief. As examples of the actual money in use, they are not without interest to collectors which is why mints usually supply circulating coins as carefully selected specimens in year sets. Circulating coins are struck on high speed presses. The coins are then check-weighed and examined for flaws and defects. After passing this examination they are counted again and hermetically sealed in bags before final check-weighing again.