Information about mint: Royal Mint

The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint, the coins of the United Kingdom. The Royal Mint originated over 1100 years ago, producing coins for England and eventually Great Britain.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK. Royal Mint Ltd is 100% owned by HM Treasury, though the latter delegates shareholder responsibilities to the Shareholder Executive.

As well as minting coins for the UK, The Royal Mint also mints and exports coins to many other countries and produces military medals, commemorative medals, and other such items for governments, schools and businesses, being known as the world's leading exporting mint.

Responsibility for the security of the site falls to the Ministry of Defence Police, who provide an armed contingent.

In 1968 The Royal Mint began to move its operations from Tower Hill in the City of London to Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, and has operated on a single site in Llantrisant since 1980. At Llantrisant it holds an extensive collection of coins dating from the 16th century onwards, housed in eighty cabinets made by Elizabeth II's cabinet maker, Hugh Swann. The site occupies 38 acres (15 ha) and employs 765 people.

The annual Trial of the Pyx assays coins produced for the UK government for size, weight and chemical composition.

The Royal Mint also manufactures bullion products under "The Royal Mint Refinery" brand. The Royal Mint Refinery marque dates back to 1852. Operated for more than 100 years by N.M. Rothschild and Sons, it became an established brand with a strong reputation for handling much of the gold and silver bullion sent to London from across the globe for processing under the RMR label. Royal Mint Refinery became a trustworthy name that survived the First and Second World Wars and served an ever evolving bullion market until production ceased in 1968. The Royal Mint Refinery brand was revived by The Royal Mint in 2015, when it stared issuing gold and silver bars. The range was later expanded to minted bars carrying themes from the bullion coinage ranges of the Royal Mint (e.g. Britannia, James Bond etc.).

Between 1968 and 1970, the Royal Mint struck coins for Switzerland to supplement the capacity of Swissmint in a period when much of Swiss currency was being changed from silver to copper-nickel. Consistent with Royal Mint tradition, these coins had no mint mark. However, according to some sources there was an exception in 1969 when some 1 Franc coins were struck by the Royal Mint but carrying Swissmint's mark B. For additional information and detailed discussion, see (in German):

[Article] Ruedi Kunzmann: "Die Silbermünzenkrise der Schweiz von 1968 und die Tätigkeit der Royal Mint, London". In: Schweizer Münzblätter. Vol. 50, Nº 200, 2000, ISSN 0016-5565, p. 68-72. [PDF]

Letters PL (abbreviated from "Percussa Londinio" in Latin, meaning "struck at London").

Located:
- after the word PENNY on the reverse of Australian One Penny coins
- above the date on Australian Sixpence coins
- above the the words THREE PENCE, in the folds of the ribbon of the "stalks of grain" Australian threepence coins

With very few exceptions, coins minted by the Royal Mint do not have a mint mark.

The Royal Mint Refinery marque is used by the Royal Mint on its range of bullion products which are not legal tender.