The Royal Mint is the official manufacturer of coins in the Unites Kingdom. It was founded in 886 and had its headquarters in London for nearly 1100 years. Since 1980, it is located in Llantrisant, South Wales. The Royal Mint has been a legally independent company since 2009 which is wholly owned by HM Treasury and with it an exclusive contract to manufacture all British coins.
The heritage of the Royal Mint goes back to a coin featuring the portrait of Alfred the Great, which was minted in the 9th century. Since that time, the institution has minted coins for currencies and collectors, and has expanded into precious metals investment in the form of gold bars. But since the demand for coins has seen a significant decline due to increasingly digital financial transactions, the mint searched for a new field to apply its expertise: Jewelry.
Daniel BENSON c/o MAKING PICTURES staged pieces of jewelry for THE ROYAL MINT.
“The use of coins as currency had been decreasing significantly, but Covid really made a step change. We had to think about how we could marry currency and collectible coins, and further diversify. What else could we use our skills for? Jewelry was the answer.” Anne Jessop, the Mint’s chief executive.
The name of the label is 886 to commemorate the founding year of the mint. The first 15-piece collection consists of gender-neutral pieces, from creoles to simple chokers, which are each made of 18-karat gold, 9-karat gold, sterling silver, or Britannia silver (an alloy with a high content of silver).
Dominic Jones was appointed Creative Director, a jewelry designer and five-time winner of the NextGen Award of the British Fashion Council. His idea behind the collection : “…beautifully designed but understated staples that will look just as chic in 30 years time as they do today.”
886 by The Royal Mint is a contemporary collection of jewelry and household goods from responsibly sourced precious metals, mainly from recovered and recycled sources, and inspired by the professional expertise and specialized knowledge of the oldest mint in Great Britain.
Spencer MURPHY c/o MAKING PICTURES photographed the fires in Wennington as part of his personal documentary project. Wennington is a small village in the London Borough of Havering in east London. It is located 14.8 miles east of Charing Cross. The town burned down on 19 July, 2022, and more than sixteen houses were destroyed.
“It’s been four years since I last documented wildfires in Britain. These fires didn’t burn as long as the fires I photographed in 2018, but I didn’t see the destruction of property then in the way that these recent fires have brought with them. It was haunting to spend days in the charred landscapes of Saddleworth Moor and Wanstead Flats back then, but it’s undeniable that there’s something about the devastation of people’s property that makes things feel all the more real. It really is time we took notice because this weather is not normal.” Spencer Murphy.
Spencer Murphy, who was born in 1978, grew up relatively isolated in the countryside in Kent, miles away from the nearest shop or school, and often found himself with only his imagination for company and the surrounding woodland as his playground. It was a combination of this imagination and an early discovery of his mother’s back issues of Life and National Geographic that sparked an early enthusiasm for photography at the age of 11. As a result, his parents bought him his first camera, and photography quickly became a channel for his creativity. Today, Spencer lives and works in London.
Among his clients are magazines such as The Guardian Weekend, Time, Vogue Italia or even Wallpaper. His portraits are featured in publications including Rolling Stone Magazine, GQ, as well as Dazed and Confused. He has exhibited throughout Europe and North America and was named as one of the Hyeres Festival’s emerging photographers of 2008.
He has also been included in the National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize exhibition seven times between 2006 and 2013, and in 2013 was announced as the overall winner. His work is now held in the NPG’s permanent collection.
“Brothers & Others is an ongoing personal project by Alexander Coggin. After months apart, Alexander is finally reunited with his extended family and continues his ongoing documentary series.” MAKING PICTURES.
Alexander Coggin has his very own way of looking at the world. The American, who now lives in London following many years in Berlin, enjoys walking the streets with his camera most of all, feeding his visual curiosity among total strangers and skillfully capturing scenes and moods. The more absurd and neurotic, the better.
‘Becky On the Beach’ – personal work by Daniel BENSON c/o MAKING PICTURES, photographed on a beach near Dover, United Kingdom.
