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Today's featured article

1860 bronze farthing, depicting Britannia
1860 bronze farthing, depicting Britannia

Beginning in 1860, Britain replaced its copper coinage with bronze pieces. The existing copper coins (principally the penny, the halfpenny and the farthing) were seen as too large and heavy. Thomas Graham, the master of the Mint, persuaded William Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to replace them. Gladstone secured authorising legislation and a vote of funds in Parliament. Leonard Charles Wyon of the Royal Mint was tasked with rendering designs for the new coinage. He produced an obverse for the new coins depicting Queen Victoria, who modelled for him. The reverse featured Britannia (pictured). With the aid of two outside firms, the Royal Mint struck enough of the new bronze coins that it began calling in the copper pieces in 1861, a process complete after 1877, although less than half in terms of value of the extant coppers were paid in. The new coins remained current until the run-up to decimalisation in 1971, except for the farthing, which was demonetised from 1 January 1961. (Full article...)

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Challenger 2

The Challenger 2 is a third-generation British main battle tank. As of 2025, it is in service with the British Army, the Royal Army of Oman, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The tank was designed by Vickers Defence Systems in 1986 as an extensive redesign of the company's earlier Challenger 1. More than 400 Challenger 2 tanks were built between 1990 and 2002. This photograph, taken in 2014, shows a Challenger 2 tank firing a practice squash-head round at the Castlemartin Training Area in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Photograph credit: Si Longworth

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