The planned opening of a new Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom – which will be one of the largest in the world – and which is expected to be located next to the Tower of London, has raised the residents of the East Smithfield district, on the north bank of the River Thames, up in arms. The Royal Mint is located there, a neoclassical monumental complex from the beginning of the 19th century, where the coins in legal circulation in the United Kingdom were minted until 1968, as well as other commemorative coins. Since then, the space has had different uses. First, it was linked to the historical centre of the medieval city where the museum of the old die house is already located; and then, from the mid-1980s, it was used for a partial renovation of the area.