Big Ben Original 2007 (UK)

Released September 2007 is this London Exclusive Starbucks Card called "Big Ben" or "London" Card .

This is truly a unique Card for Londoners, but for a Starbucks Card in general. It was rare at the time to have a Card made specifically for a city - the only other time this was done prior to this issue was the Taipei Card for Taiwan in 2005. This London icon is actually called the Clock Tower, dubbed "Big Ben" for the actual bell in the tower. Front and center on the Card is the famous clock tower with the red, white and blue Union Jack flag as the background. The city name LONDON is splashed on the front, a great piece.

Special Note: Its not known if the release of this Card has any significance to the stopping of Big Ben on August 11th, 2007, when it went silent and temporarily also stopped keeping time for maintenance that was scheduled to last approximately one month. The bearings that help sound the chime on each hour will be replaced, for the first time since installation. It very well might be a coincidence but interesting timing nun-the-less.