Bringing Coins to Your Holiday Traditions

Coins and pudding, what could be better? A Great Britain Christmas tradition brings the two together in a delightful event for the whole family.

Dating back to the Victorian era, the Sunday before Advent, also known as “Stir-up Sunday,” is a day when the whole family gathers to help make the annual Christmas pudding. A silver sixpence is then placed into the pudding mix, and everyone makes a wish as they take a turn stirring the pudding. It is believed that whoever finds the sixpence in their slice will receive wealth over the coming year.

The Royal Mint recently conducted a survey to see if the tradition of Stir-up Sunday and the Christmas pudding were still alive in the UK. Of 2,000 people polled, over 88 percent said they celebrated Christmas, with a little over 52 percent saying they followed some Christmas traditions. Over 75 percent of the people surveyed had never heard of Stir-up Sunday, and only 4 percent participated in the tradition.

The survey puts into perspective how traditions change and sometimes get lost over the years. But it also invites the opportunity to start new traditions, and as coin collectors, why not start a tradition incorporating a coin or two?

For those who do participate in the Christmas pudding tradition, it is common for families to use the same sixpence every year, passing it down through generations. What a delightful way to spark an interest in coins in the younger generations than to share a family heirloom in a fun tradition for everyone.

Perhaps, if you’re thinking of starting this tradition with your family, you can switch which coin you use each year, helping the youngsters with their collection throughout the year and letting them pick a coin (sanitized, of course) to place in the pudding. The sixpence is 19.3 mm in diameter, just a little bigger than a U.S. dime. A quarter in your pudding might be a little too easy to spot.

The nice thing about family traditions is you can make them your own. Families who celebrate Christmas together will decorate a Christmas tree, but with that shared experience across the world, each family has their own way of doing it. Perhaps you put your coin in a different Christmas dessert if the pudding doesn’t suit your taste.

Here at Numismatic News, we wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and wish you luck in finding coins not only in your pudding but throughout the year!

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