Yoko Donates Gold Lennon Coin

By World Coin News December 16, 2010

A unique 22-karat gold version of the new John Lennon £5 coin of Alderney has been donated by Yoko Ono to Great Britain’s Alder Hey Hospital’s Imagine Appeal for auction next year to raise money.

Ono is the widow of the famous Beatle songwriter/singer/musician.

The coin is part of the British Royal Mint’s Great Britons series of £5 silver Alderney coins.

Lennon was chosen to accompany in the series such luminaries of history as Winston Churchill by choice of the British public.

A Royal Mint public poll this summer nominated Lennon as the historical figure most deserving of a place in coin history. The poll saw over 30,000 votes cast and just over 92 percent of them nominated the Beatle.

The gold Lennon coin will be sold by Bonhams auction house in June 2011.

Yoko Ono said: “In the year when my husband John would have been 70 I am thrilled that the British public voted him top of their list of Great Britons. This special one-off gold coin, made by the Royal Mint, is being donated to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, of which I am a patron. This amazing place, one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, is very close to my heart and I hope that they can auction this coin and use the proceeds from it to help continue the incredible care and support they provide for children in the North West and all of Europe.”