Production of the first coin bearing the image of King Charles to enter general circulation has begun.
The 50p coin was minted at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales and will be introduced into tills, wallets and purses in December.
Sculptor Martin Jennings, who created the king’s portrait, said it was a “quite a remarkable experience” to see the coin being made.
He said it took months of painstaking work to get the image right.
He used images of King Charles on his 70th birthday to create a likeness of the monarch in the smallest work he ever had to produce.
“It has to be an accurate portrait, but also one that says something about the enduring values of the institution it represents,” said Mr. Jennings.
“In subtle and tiny ways you can convey these things.”
The portrait of King Charles is Mr Jennings’ first coin design, but his public sculptures include the poets John Betjeman at St Pancras Station in London and Philip Larkin in Hull.
The reverse of the coin is a copy of the 1953 design of the crown, which was minted to commemorate the Queen’s coronation.
It includes the four quarters of the royal arms depicted in a shield. Between each shield is an emblem of the homelands: a rose, a thistle, a shamrock, and a leek.
The 50p coins will be available for general use in December and will be distributed as needed by banks, building societies and post offices. Eventually 9.6 million 50p coins of the latest design will be produced. Depending on demand, other denominations bearing the king’s image are produced.
They will circulate along with coins featuring the late Queen, so these 27 billion coins will continue to be accepted in stores. Before decimalization, it was common for people to carry coins of different monarchs in their pockets.
The coins will follow the centuries-old tradition of the monarch pointing to the left – although King Charles’ predecessor pointed to the right, bucking this trend.
As with previous British kings, unlike the queen, he does not wear a crown.
The coins are minted at the Royal Mint’s site in Llantrisant, where the official mint manufacturer – and Britain’s oldest company – relocated in 1967 to facilitate the decimalisation process. Visitors to the Mint’s museum can see the manufacturing process and mint their own coin.
- It is one of the oldest companies in the world and struck its first coin in the late 9th century, during the reign of Alfred the Great
- The Mint has been based in the Tower of London for most of its existence, but Llantrisant at Rhondda Cynon Taf has been its home since the late 1960s
- The current facility was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on December 17, 1968, just in time for the daunting task of replacing the billions of coins in circulation before decimalization
- There are more than 27 billion coins in circulation in the UK, with the Mint issuing around a billion new coins each year – although this figure fluctuates
Kevin Clancy, Director of the Royal Mint Museum, said: “For many people this will be the first time in their lives that they will see a new monarch appear on money.
“It represents the biggest change in British coinage since decimalisation and will usher in a new era in which the coins of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. Commonly circulating in the UK is a reign that lasted 70 years.”
Questions still remain about the relevance of coins in modern times as people increasingly turn to cards and smartphones to pay for things.
According to Banking Trade Body UK Finance, cash use is expected to fall and account for 6% of payments by 2031.
The Mint says that coins still represent our national identity and have a practical function.
The purchasing power of coins is also reduced by high inflation.
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