Stir up Joy with a Six Pence

Inextricably linked to a British Christmas, the sixpence plays a key part in one of Britain’s most popular Yuletide activities, which involves a Christmas pudding. Tradition dictates that a silver sixpence is placed inside the pudding before it is cooked and it is said that the person who finds the coin in their piece on Christmas Day can look forward to good fortune in the year to come.

The making of the Christmas pudding traditionally takes place on Stir-up Sunday, which takes place five weeks before Christmas and this year falls on 20 November. Families gather to help make the Christmas pudding, before a sixpence is added into the mix; each person makes a wish as they give the mix a stir in a tradition that dates back to the reign of Queen Victoria.

The 2022 Christmas Silver Six Pence combines tradition with modern style. Featuring a delicate floral motif, the reverse of the coins displays Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s royal cypher surrounded by apple and orange blossom for good fortune.