Everyone is assuming that this is a legitimate coin, produced by the Royal MInt for England. I don’t think it is. I think it’s a private issue, from Alderney–one of the three Islands(Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney) which issue private coins…
It’s crap. They can give it a legal tender status, but it will trade in the future for gold weight.
In the coin business, this type of coin has been called “non-circulating legal tender” for 30 years or more. It’s a commemorative “coin” (medal, actually), which is an instant collectible, much in the tradition of a collector plate, a porcelain figurine, etc.
The only problem that the original buyer has–where do you find the “bigger fool” to buy it for more than you paid?
Nope. It’s both – its 1,000 pounds face value in British currency, and weighs 1 kilo(gram) = 2.205 lb. avoirdupois = 1,000 grams.
Intaglio:
[quote]
Since when is Prince William from Wales? - he’s not the Prince of Wales yet, is he? Is Prince Charles still the Prince of Wales?
[quote]
He’s officially “Prince William of Wales,” much as his grandmother’s cousin was “Prince Richard of Gloucester” – being the second son of the first Duke of Gloucester of the Windsor line. Charles is Prince of Wales (title), Wills is Prince William (no title) of Wales (because he’s the son of the Prince of Wales). And according to the last Royal Patent on royal names that I’m aware of, he’s a member of the House of Windsor, with that as his surname should he ever need to use one – “Mountbatten-Windsor” is the surname QE2 created for her descendents who were members of the Royal Family who were not in line for the throne and would, eventually, be in need of one.
Samclem:
Sorta true, sorta not. The Royal Mint issued the coin, in behalf of the Bailiwick of Alderney, one of the three divisions of the Channel Islands, each of which does have its own coinage. So it’s a valid coin, albeit supposedly for one small island that could probably afford one coin if the whole population pooled their uncommitted income to buy it.
Their coinage, by and large, is for collectors, much as countries like Ajman and Equatorial Guinea used to issue stamps having nothing to do with the country but targeting specialty stamp collectors – a four-stamp Elvis set, for example, or a twenty-stamp Olympics commemorative.
Just make sure the Ottawa Mint gets a better portrait, matt. (A letter from a former candidate for Parliament urging that they find a photogenic image of him ought to get some results.)
I was going to post a decent photo of him, but I see Spazcat already has. For crying out loud, I just flipped past part of a documentary of the man mentioning the hundreds of Vancouver girls meeting his plane. (Beetles, anyone?)
This coin gives him ugly hair, an unflattering smile, and a Dilbertesque upflip to his collar. I’m with Raygun99 - they should all be melted down tomorrow by royal decree.
All I can say is, how cool must it be to be officially named Richard of Gloucester?!
Oh yeah, and William is a hottie. He’s the youngest member of my Hot Guys / Hot Chicks List (and boy did I feel old when I found that out). Harry has begun to turn into a surprisingly good-looking lad of late too.
I hate to admit any link whatsoever with this ugly ugly coin, but Alderney’s actually part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. defensively And some of our coins are very nice! It’s the first time I’ve seen them sell the coin for a different value from the face value though. And the first time Prince William’s been given what looks like two surprised caterpillars over his eyes instead of the more traditional eyebrows. Is it treason to put a really really bad portrait of a member of the Royal Family on a coin? They should probably just stick to crabs and cows from now on - it’s much harder to mess them up.
