This year, the Royal Mint will continue its mission of doing more than just supplying the nation’s coinage. The rise of digital payments has fuelled the Mint’s goals of reinventing itself as a portfolio business to remain relevant and profitable for a potentially cashless future. Navigating these novel legal challenges is in-house legal counsel and company secretary, Chris Inson.
Last year’s highlights include advising on the Mint’s plans of building a new recycling plant in South Wales aimed at recovering gold from electronic waste. Where there is new technology – in this case from Canadian firm Excir – there are patent agreements, overseen by Inson. The next steps will be scaling the test lab-sized operation to an industrial scale, and even internationally.
Among the uses for precious metals recovered from e-waste include the Mint’s new jewellery range, 886. Last year, Inson’s legal team were tasked with establishing the online side of the bling business and securing the lease for 886’s new in-person shop in the London Burlington Arcade.
2022 also marked a major historical moment for the Mint: the Queen’s death. It activated plans of launching King Charles III’s effigy – which required Inson to secure the copyright — on newly-minted coins now in circulation.