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 mint was at the discretion of engravers who could undertake the work independently and receive and additional wage. A Royal patent which was issued in 1669 granted the mint the sole right to produce medals of any metal which bore a portrait of a monarch. Engravers would use the facilities at the mint to make commemorative medals to their own design for sale. A key date in the mint's history of producing medals for the military is 1815 when the Battle of Waterloo marked the beginning of awarding military campaign medals. By 1874 the mint was responsible for making all