2018-2019 British 10 Pence Coin Hunt A to Z
By Coinsanduk | Friday, 14 March 2025
The Royal Mint's A to Z 10 Pence coins hunt celebrated British subjects, from Great British landmarks such as Stonehenge, to a Double Decker Bus, the Quintessential A to Z saluted what it means to be British. The Royal Mint invited the population to collect them all.
The reverse design for each year is the same for every letter. Mintage for the circulation coins is 220,000 each, in 2018, 84,000 each except for the letters R (64,000), W (63,000), Y (63,000) and Z (63,000)
A - Angel of the North
Sitting at the entrance to the North East, the Angel of the North is the largest sculpture in the whole of the UK and thought to be the largest angel sculpture in the world!
The contemporary sculpture was completed on 16 February 1998 and made by Sir Anthony Gormley's. It remains the region's most famous piece of artwork and one of the most viewed pieces of art in the world - seen by more than one person every second, 90,000 every day or 33 million every year, due to its proximity to the A1 and A167 roads and the East Coast Main Line.
Weighing in at 200 tonnes and costing a total of £800,000, the statue is made of weather resistant Cor-ten steel, allowing it to withstand winds of more than 100 miles per hour. It stands 20 metres (66 ft) tall with a wingspan of 54 metres (177 ft).
B - Bond...James Bond
From novelist Ian Fleming in 1953, Bond first appeared on our screens in 1962 in the classic inaugural film, Dr No.
Since Fleming's death in 1964, several other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations.
C - Cricket
It is generally believed that cricket originated as a children's game in the south-eastern counties of England, sometime during the medieval period. Although there are claims for prior dates. Though origins of Cricket are lost in the mist of time, it's widely known that it became the country's national sport in the 18th century and developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries.
By the middle of the 18th century, cricket was being played at every level of society, from village greens to wealthy estates. However, the game lacked a coherent set of rules.
It wasn't until 1835 that the newly established Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's Cricket Ground gave cricket its first formal laws, which still stand today.
D - Double Decker Bus
The Double Decker Bus is an iconic symbol of London, people all over the world, associate the famous red bus.
This global icon, was first seen as early as 1829 when George Shillibeer started operating his horse drawn omnibus service from Paddington to the city.
His idea soon caught on and in 1855 the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) was born, and soon official buses were available to the public.
E - English Breakfast
Also known as a fry up, a traditional English breakfast, according to the English Breakfast Society, features an array of ingredients including bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, baked beans, grilled tomato, fried bread and toast.
Over the years, the preparing of a traditional English breakfast has evolved, however the contents have stayed the same.
The tradition of an English breakfast dates back to the Victorian era when two meals a day was the norm – breakfast and dinner. For the landed gentry, breakfast was a time to socialise and impress your guests so was a very leisurely affair, much like dinner is today.
F - Fish & Chips
Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of battered and fried fish, served with chips (french fries).
It originated in England in the 19th century. Churchill was a fan of Fish & Chips calling them the good companions.
It was one of the few foods in the UK not subject to rationing during the wars, which further contributed to its popularity.
G - Greenwich Mean Time
The Royal Observatory Greenwich is famous world-wide as the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
It was in 1876 that a single time zone setting the baseline for the rest of the world was first proposed. Engineer and inventor, Sandford Fleming, first made the call for a global 24-hour clock and although he wasn't immediately successful he continued to push his concept and eventually the theory of a universal day, beginning at Greenwich midnight, was agreed upon by the International Meridian Conference.
Most countries had adopted the hourly time zones by the 1930's. Many differed within regions because of geography, distance and politics, which remains the case today, with many countries carrying different time zones between states.
H - Houses of Parliament
The Houses of Parliament have been a feature of the River Thames skyline for nearly 300 years in their current form. The oldest royal palace in London, the Houses of Parliament is one of most recognised buildings in the world.
It has been in continuous use since the first half of the 11th century. The original Houses of Parliament was decimated by a fire in 1834 and took 30 years to be recreated.
The most famous part of the building is the Clock Tower which houses, Big Ben. Victoria Tower, the southern tower, is 102 meters high and was the largest and tallest tower in the world. On top is 15 meters flagpole which fly's the Union flag when parliament is sitting.
I - Ice Cream Cone
Ice cream recipes first appeared in England in the 18th century. The recipe for ice cream was published in Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts in London in 1718.
According to research by Neuroscientists at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, eating ice cream really does make you happy. Scientists found that a spoonful of the cold stuff lights up the same pleasure centre in the brain as winning money or listening to your favourite music.
J - Jubilee
Queen Elizabeth II, longest reigning monarch, and Queen Victoria are the only two reigning British monarchs to have celebrated their Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne). Both with extensive celebrations.
Over 2 million people took part in street parties to mark Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012. The occasion was marked with an array of celebrations over the weekend, including the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, a maritime flotilla of some 1,000 boats and vessels led by the Queen's Royal Barge, Gloriana and a Diamond Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace.
K - King Arthur
Known as the king that was and the king that shall be, King Arthur is recognised all over the world as one of the most famous characters of myth and legend.
According to legend, he lived in the mythical city of Camelot and formed a Round Table of some 150 knights.
His existence has been widely debated, all that is known, with even the least degree of certainty, is that a man named Arthur, or Arturus, led a band of heroic warriors who spearheaded the resistance of Britons against the invading Saxons, Jutes, and others from the north of Europe, sometime in the fifth and sixth centuries AD.
L - Loch Ness
Reportedly a huge monster which mauls and drags its prey to the depths of Loch Ness, it has been described by the lucky few to set eyes on it as the nearest approach to a dragon I have ever seen in my life.
It was during the 17th century that Britons really took an interest in Nessy. In 1871 D. Mackenzie spotted an object, similar to a log or an upturned boat wriggling and churning up the water. After this story was passed to Rupert Gould, interest in the Loch Ness Monster increased.
M - Mackintosh
Invented by Charles Macintosh in the mid-19th century, the Macintosh (sometimes spelt Mackintosh) was a revolution. Made by sandwiching a layer of naphtha and rubber between two layers of fabric, the fabric only found its true calling when the Macintosh company merged with clothing company Thomas Hancock.
The first manufactured versions had a nasty habit of melting in the hot summer sun, however after a few improvements, the true Macintosh was born. For years, creating a material that was truly waterproof was a pipe dream, however thanks to this Glaswegian chemist the Macintosh is now an item that we take for granted.
N - NHS
Opening its doors in 1948, the NHS is one of the oldest and iconic nationalized health service providers in the world.
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales.
O - Oak Tree
Symbol of strength and endurance, it is the national tree for England and Wales, as well as the emblem for County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.
P - Postbox
Introduced in 1852 the post box, or pillar box, was created just 12 years after the introduction of the Penny Black postage stamp. It wasn't until 1874 that the bright red colour was chosen to replace the 1859 green that had been introduced to standardise the boxes.
After the 2012 Olympics, held in London, many postboxes throughout Britain were painted gold in the home towns of gold medal winning athletes.
Q - Queuing
Established as a social norm in the early 19th Century, Britain is believed to have gained its reputation for queueing during major historical events, including the industrial revolution. As more and more people gathered together in urban areas, the need for order was made apparent.
Today, queuing is a part of everyday life.
R - Robin
Officially named the UK's favourite bird, the robin is often associated with the festive season. Historically associated with ill fortune, a handful of people still refuse to write their Christmas wishes on a card featuring the red breasted bird.
With a length of 14 cm, wingspan of 20-22 cm and a weight of just 14-21 g, these little birds are often thought to be friendly creatures, but that is certainly not the case. They may look adorable, but robins are aggressively territorial and quarrelsome, and will not hesitate to drive away other intruding robins.
S - Stonehenge
This imposing stone circle is part of United Kingdom history.
Shrouded in mystery, the historical site of Stonehenge, located in located in Wiltshire, England, is often considered to be the world's most famous prehistoric monument.
The first monument at Stonehenge was built in approximately 3,000 BC and comprised a circular earthwork. By 2,500 BC this original site was changed with huge sarsen stones and smaller bluestone were raised, to form the incredible monument we see today.
Added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986, Stonehenge continues to be one of Britain's biggest tourist attractions to date.
T - Tea
Contrary to popular belief, it was actually the Portuguese who brought tea to Great Britain, and in particular, one woman, Catherine of Braganza. Daughter of Portugal's King John IV, Catherine won the heart of England's King Charles II and moved to Britain to join her husband, with her favourite loose-leaf tea packed firmly in her luggage.
Originally a costly product imported from India, tea was initially adopted by the nobles and not long after, the upper class. Once demand was heightened, more and more tea was imported and the price was lowered, enabling the lower classes to indulge in the popular brew.
U - Union Flag
An iconic piece of Britain, the iconic Union Flag, often known as the Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom.
Symbolising the union of countries which make up the United Kingdom, the flag combines the three national flags of England, Scotland and Ireland. The red cross of St George, the white saltire on St Andrew and the red saltire of St Patrick, came together in 1801 to create the iconic Union Flag we see today.
V - Village
Villages and village life are a huge part of British culture, lots of tiny interconnected dwellings where everyone seems to know each other, and no business is private. Flash, in the Peak District has long been recognised as Britain's highest village (or town), sitting 463 m above sea level.
Villages have also long played a major role in popular culture in the UK from made up places to real life ones. From Emmerdale, Midsomer and Dibley where some of the most loved TV characters have lived to the idyllic Port Wenn, Cornwell where Doc Martin plies his trade and Runcorn where those couch potatoes from Two Pints of Larger and A Packet of Crisps lived.
W - World Wide Web
Invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. Berners-Lee was born in London on 8 June 1955, the son of mathematicians and computer scientists Mary Lee Woods and Conway Berners-Lee.
Tim implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the Internet in mid-November 1989.
X - X Marks the Spot
Steeped in mystery and unclear in origin, X marks the spot has taken on many meanings and been intertwined with popular culture, mythology and everyday life for centuries. The first recorded use of X marks the spot was in 1813, although it's widely thought that it is much older than this.
Y - Yeoman Warder
Yeomen Warders, or to give them their official title, The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, were formed by King Henry VII in 1485 during the Tudor period.
Z - Zebra Crossing
Not to be confused with a pelican crossing, the zebra crossing's most distinguishing feature is its alternating black and white stripes on the road that resemble the coat of a zebra, hence the name zebra crossing.
Introduced in 1949, by James Callaghan, the then parliamentary security to the minister of transport, came up with the name zebra as he believed it would be easily understood and remembered.
Zebra crossings don't always get the credit they deserve but one has stood out in history as possibly the most famous zebra crossing in the world. We are of course talking about the one that adorned The Beatles Abbey Road album cover, possibly one of the most iconic album covers in history.
Specifications
Circulation issues
- Alloy: Nickel-plated steel
- Weight: 6.5 g
- Diameter: 24.5 mm
- Thickness: 1.85 mm
- Obverse: Jody Clark
Silver Proof
- Alloy: 92.5% silver
- Weight: 6.5 g
- Diameter: 24.5 mm
- Obverse: Jody Clark
