New British Coins
The Royal Mint has unveiled the first new designs for Britain’s coins since decimalisation nearly 40 years ago. The Mint commissioned new “reverse” designs for the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p and £1 coins that feature the shield of the royal arms to partner the Queen’s head on the flip side. Here’s a first look at the changes to your change.
Royal Arms are a symbol of the reigning monarch for the 2p coin. A Shield of Arms was first used on English coinage in the mid-14th century, while the Royal Arms in its current form was introduced during the reign of Queen Victoria. Designer Mathew Dent tested his design idea by printing out an image of the Royal Arms and arranging the coins over the top before outlining the coins and trimming.
The 5p winner of the design competition, Matthew Dent, was in primary school when the current 5p coin was released in 1990. Coin designs are usually found through competitions, although they’re often restricted to freelance artists and Royal Mint engravers. The last public competition was in 1996 to obtain a design for the new £2 coin.
The 10p is the first new design to feature on many coins in more than forty years, and the first time a single design has been used across a range of coins in this way. Coins aren’t just used for spending and saving – they’ve often been used as weights and are stacked in the huge pendulum of Big Ben to regulate the clock.
The 20p coin is the same shape as the 50p coin, but smaller. The new coins will enter circulation gradually this year. There are more than 800 million coins in circulation and coins with the current designs will remain legal tender.
The 50p coin issued in 1969 was the first coin in the world to be struck in the shape of an equilateral curve heptagon. The front of all coins will continue to bear the existing portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley, approved for use on United Kingdom coins from January 1 1998.
The £1 coin unites the set of coins with its depiction of the complete Shield of the Royal Arms. The reverse of the £1 coin wasn’t included in the Royal Mint’s original plan, but came about after an ‘inspired’ meeting of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, said designer Matthew dent. The £1 coin reverse helped depict, define and support the entire design theme, the Royal Mint said.
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