New £100 coin featuring Big Ben is minted to mark arrival of 2015

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A new £100 coin featuring London's Elizabeth Tower, which houses the great bell known as Big Ben, has been minted to mark the start of the new year.

The Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has produced 50,000 of the commemorative pieces.

The design was chosen in celebration of the distinctive sound of Big Ben, the great bell inside the Elizabeth Tower (which is also often called Big Ben), which for many cues the start of the new year.

The design shows the clock tower from street level from the view of a person gazing up towards the sky.

Shane Bissett, the Royal Mint's director of commemorative coin, bullion and medals, said: "The sound of Big Ben chiming in the Elizabeth Tower is one that will have become synonymous with Britain for millions of British citizens and tourists alike, particularly on New Year's Eve when the world listens for Big Ben, which marks Greenwich Mean Time, to chime in the New Year.

"So it is a fitting choice for the nation's first £100 coin, and this is a fitting time for us to reveal it."

Big Ben's famous chimes have been affectionately called "the voice of Britain."

The Elizabeth Tower was formally called, simply, the Clock Tower, but was renamed in 2012 to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower.The tower was completed in 1858 and has become one of the most famous symbols of Great Britain.


Royal Mint makes £100 coin featuring Big Ben clock tower

BBC News
29 December 2015


The coin is legal tender but is not designed for everyday use

A new £100 coin featuring London's Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, has been minted to mark the start of the new year.

The Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has produced 50,000 of the commemorative pieces.

The coins, which contain two ounces (56 grams) of silver, will be available at the face value of £100.

The design was chosen in celebration of Big Ben's distinctive sound, which for many cues the start of the new year.

The coin is expected to prove popular following the sell-out success of the first £20 coin struck in honour of the birth of Prince George.


This £1000 coin, made of gold, was minted to celebrate the christening of Prince George

The design shows the clock tower from street level from the view of a person gazing up towards the sky.

Shane Bissett, the Royal Mint's director of commemorative coin, bullion and medals, said: "The sound of Big Ben chiming in the Elizabeth Tower is one that will have become synonymous with Britain for millions of British citizens and tourists alike, particularly on New Year's Eve when the world listens for Big Ben, which marks Greenwich Mean Time, to chime in the New Year.

"So it is a fitting choice for the nation's first £100 coin, and this is a fitting time for us to reveal it."

While the coins are legal tender, they will not be in general circulation and have been designed as collector items. Big Ben, cast in 1859, is believed to have been named after either the former Monmouth MP and peer Sir Benjamin Hall, who later became Lord Llanover, or after boxing's English Heavyweight Champion Benjamin Caunt.

Hall oversaw the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament, including the installation of the new clock tower bell, after they burnt down in 1834.

BBC News - Royal Mint makes £100 coin featuring Big Ben clock tower
 
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