Royal Mint was historically part of a series of mints that became centralised to produce coins for the Kingdom of England, all of Great Britain and eventually most of the British Empire. The original London mint from which the Royal Mint is the successor, was established in 886 AD and operated within the Tower of London for approximately 800 years before moving to what is now called Royal Mint Court where it remained until the 1960s. As Britain followed the rest of the world in decimalising its currency, the Mint moved from London to a new plant in Llantrisant, Wales where it
Royal Mint Court in between 1807-1812 by Robert Smirke after Johnson died, having never seen his design realised. In honour of both architects, the building was named the Johnson Smirke Building, a namesake of both their surnames. Aiming to increase mint production, the building was designed for multiple purposes including to house new mint machinery, act as a bullion store, the mint's office and apartments for mint officials. The long façade of the three-storey rectangular stone building has windows with Doric order running through the first and second floors. A broad central pediment sits above featuring the royal coat of arms engraved in