The Sex Pistols marked the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 with the release of ‘God Save The Queen’ and a riotous gig on a boat going up and down the Thames. To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, they re-released ‘God Save The Queen’ and sold… a commemorative coin with a tie-in NFT.

The coin comes in a presentation box and riffs on Jamie Reid’s ripped-up Union Flag design that he created for the band. It sells for £25 and their official site says it will only be available to buy during June 2022 and will ship in July.

“The commemorative coin comes twinned with a bonus digital counterpart in the form of an NFT,” says their site. “The NFT collection features a number of designs, randomly assigned upon minting.”

The Sex Pistols NFTs are minted on the Palm network, described as a “scalable and sustainable ecosystem for NFTs” and that each one will have a “near zero carbon footprint”.

Interestingly, the T&Cs state that the NFT is “a free gift with the purchase of the physical coin” and the vouchers issued within 48 hours of buying the coin will become invalidated if the coin is returned.

It also stresses: “Any cancellation rights in respect of the NFT will be forfeited by minting the NFT.”

Some of the media coverage of this semi-auspicious event quoted John Lyon’s final words at the band’s last (for a while) show in San Francisco in January 1978 (“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”), seemingly oblivious to the fact that they called their 1996 reunion tour Filthy Lucre and were never shy about making money.

They also must have missed the standout quote from Steve Jones in their first piece of press in the NME in February 1976. “Actually, we’re not into music,” he said. “We’re into chaos.”

Cash from chaos? Plus ça change…