Coinage (Measurement) Bill
Debate between Lord Davies of Oldham and Lord Stewartby
Lord Davies of Oldham
My Lords, there are few joys of being in opposition but one of them is not having to answer a question like that at short notice. I sympathise with the Minister in that regard.
The Opposition warmly welcome the Bill. On the innumerable occasions on which I spoke in this House as the former Minister responsible for DCMS, I never recall the issue of coinage crossing my desk when I spoke about the progress of the Olympic Games bid and its development. Here is yet another dimension of the Olympics which I heartily applaud. I think that, at times, we all must have some reservations about the extent to which the Olympic Games, which were born of the great amateur tradition in Greece and were sustained for a considerable period in the world in their modern form in amateur terms, have become commercialised. Here we are, a century or so after the modern Games were established, in an era in which everything is fairly professional and everything is likely to be commercial. It grates at times when you see some English teams proudly bearing the logos of major international companies. I hope that no British team bears the insignia of News International. If there is, it would be well advised to drop it fairly quickly. However, corporate logos play an important part in the Games; I guess that that is inevitable in this modern age.
However, we should have no reservations about the Royal Mint commemorating the Games and producing coins which are likely to produce a fairly healthy profit. I know that the Minister will seize with both hands the opportunity to praise this example of public enterprise. The Royal Mint has had an exceptionally good record, both while it was at the Tower of London and now that it is in Llantrisant in south Wales. It is a hugely successful enterprise. There is no doubt that the minting of these coins will result in significant gain to the Mint as the commemorative coins will be greatly valued.
I emphasise that there are aspects of the transfer of the Royal Mint to Llantrisant which have not been exemplified greatly in its products. I have never seen the Welsh dragon on any British coin. Given the location of the Royal Mint, it seems strange to me that it does not ensure that its ordinary coins bear some reference to Wales. That would not apply to all coins, of course, but we recognise that aspects of the United Kingdom are represented on £1 coins. However, the Welsh dragon, which is by far the most emphatic symbol of Wales, is not.
Lord Stewartby
I wonder whether the noble Lord is familiar with the gold sovereign of Henry VII, which has a Welsh dragon on it. It is very small but it is quite easy to identify it.