§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has yet authorised the minting of 1981-dated United Kingdom gold coins; If so, in what denominations they will he issued; how many will be proof coins and how many non-proof coins; what the limited numbers will be; whether there will be proof sets; what the proposed prices will be to the public both at home and overseas; and what quantity of any of these coins will be allocated for overseas customers.
§ Mr. Peter ReesAs in previous years bullion sovereigns will be supplied to the demand of the Bank of England. An announcement about the availability of 1981 United Kingdom gold proof coins will be made in due course.
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he intends to authorise the minting of 1981-dated United Kingdom proof currency sets; and what the limit of the numbers to be issued will be.
§ Mr. Peter Rees1981 base metal proof coin sets will be available for sale. As in previous years there will be no formal minting limit.
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, with reference to the annual report of the Royal Mint for 1980, any profit as made from the production and sale of foreign, non-United Kingdom, proof coins.
§ Mr. Peter ReesYes.
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Paddington of 11 December 1980, the Royal Mint determined from the outset that a certain number of 1980 proof gold coins of £5, £2, £1 and 50p should be available for overseas customers; and what was the number out of the total authorised limit.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThis information was published in a Royal Mint press release on 22 May 1980.
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he intends to authorise a crown piece of 25p value to be struck for the United Kingdom and dated 1981.
§ Mr. Peter ReesNot at the present time.