The first 50p coins featuring King Charles III are now in production at the Royal Mint, with plans to appear in purses and wallets this December.
It represents the biggest change to UK coinage in over 50 years and will mark the transition from the late Queen Elizabeth II to the country’s new monarch.
The new 50p will show Charles’ faces to the left, in the opposite direction to his mother.
This is because tradition states that each new monarch should face the opposite way to their predecessors on coinage.
The King will also not be wearing his crown on the coin, as tradition dictates that only Queens should be pictured crowned.
For many, it’ll be the first time in their lives to see a new monarch appear on coins.
The UK will also enter a new transition era where currencies featuring both Queen Elizabeth II and Charles will co-circulate.
Rebecca Morgan, director of collector services at the Royal Mint said: “Most people under the age of 50 only ever have seen Queen Elizabeth II in their pockets.”
“It wasn’t unusual to see two or three different monarchs on coins before decimalisation,” she said.
British artist Martin Jennings, who designed the new 50p coin, said it is extremely painstaking work.
“It is extremely painstaking work with microns of material,” he said.
“It has to be an absolute likeness. It is a portrait of the monarch but also of the individual.”
Mr Jennings used images of Charles taken to mark his 70th birthday and began by drawing his design on paper, before creating a model in plaster.
“It has been a big design challenge,” Mr Jennings said.
“The placing of everything is exactly precise, such as the spacing between the letters, the proximity with the head.
“It is a huge honour. It is extraordinary to think that the smallest piece of work that I have ever done is that one that is going to be reproduced in the most multiples.”
There are currently still around 27 billion coins of Queen Elizabeth, which will remain legal tender until they’re replaced over time.
Production of the old coins will conclude by the end of the year, but a new memorial 50p to honour the late Queen will be available for general use from December.
Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum, said: “The new memorial 50 pence marks a moment in history and honours a landmark reign that lasted for 70 years.”
The design will feature an image of her coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953.
It also includes the four quarters of the Royal Arms depicted within a shield, with emblems of the home nations – a rose, a thistle, a shamrock and a leek.
Workers at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales will produce 9.6 million copies of the coin to mark the Queen’s death at the age of 96.
Before her death, the Queen signed off a number of coins, including a Harry Potter commemorative series, and production of these will continue.
This means two of the Harry Potter series will feature the Queen, while the final two will bear the portrait of the King.
It takes between 18 months to two years to design a coin, with the monarch personally signing off each one.
