Continuing a centuries-old Christian tradition, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated Holy Thursday by handing out coins in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle during the annual Royal Maundy service.
Red and white purses were presented to 92 men and 92 women who were chosen in recognition of their service to the Church and the community.
Each red purse held a 2018 UK £5 coin, celebrating four generations of royalty, and a 2018 UK 50p coin commemorating the Representation of the People Act 1918, which gave some women the right to vote for the first time.
Every white purse contained specially struck Maundy coins with their face values adding up to 92 pence — the Queen’s age later this month.
All the coins were struck by Britain’s 1100-year old Royal Mint.
Royal Maundy can be traced back in England to the thirteenth century. Edward I (1274 to 1307) started the traditional Maundy Thursday act of giving alms to the poor. Some of the specifics of the tradition have changed, but it still involves individuals receiving gifts from the monarch. In more recent times, the number of recipients has changed annually to match the monarch’s age.
Maundy coins bear Mary Gillick’s effigy of the Queen, as appeared on the first coins of her reign in 1943. They differ from standard circulating coins like those produced now with the fifth definitive portraits of the monarch.
To ready more about the unique Maundy money, visit this Royal Mint webpage.
What a great tradition!
I fully agree. Would love to receive one of those coins as they represent humble work for the church…and can we say rare lol Great family coin.
The “rare” part doesn’t hurt, though, does it? I had one of those maundy coins – in the one of the lower denominations – in the first of my collections as a pre-teen. I don’t have any certain memory as to what became of it, but my best guess is that I left it behind with all of my memorabilia when I made the move from the Continent to the U.S.A. I suppose coming to live here was uppermost in my mind and as such my assorted and sundry collectibles didn’t figure very prominently into that rather momentous (for me… Read more »
Really? A thumbs down to the appreciation of Maundy Money? Apparently a spiritual follower of Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads has made the rounds here.
That be so true…appears this new silent / communication tool (on this site) caters to internet trolls lol negative / positive clicks mean nothing to me…especially from internet trolls lol
You’ve surely noticed by now that the trolls have only been able to master one of the two click possibilities. Says it all, doesn’t it? 😛
I rest my case. 😆
Yup, lets see how the administrator of this site handles this. Lots of other coin sites to explore. Maybe they should exercise some professionalism and control over their site.
Mouse, You have once again hit the proverbial nail right on the head. The introduction of the “+” and “-” voting function, otherwise known as the thumbs up/thumbs down app, appears to be serving as no more than a completely unnecessary and ultimately gratuitous distraction from the legitimate [numismatic] business at hand. The troll or trolls doing the alleged “voting” are garden variety internet leeches and web parasites and as such serve no purpose other than to detract and distract from the flow of the comments within the threads of discussion; they contribute not one iota of anything remotely positive… Read more »
I could not have said it better Old Collector.
Thank you, Mouse, for that welcome “vote” 🙂 of confidence and support.
Old Collector