Chancellors are renowned for trying to spring a surprise during their budget speeches, and Philip Hammond is expected to announce that the UK will mint a special celebratory coin to mark the UK’s departure from the European Union.
The Brexit 50p is expected to be issued on 29 March next year, the day the country is due to leave the bloc after 45 years of membership. According to reports, the coin will bear the phrase “Friendship With All Nations”.
The report was greeted with derision on social media from Hammond’s opponents. In a reference to the continued devaluation of sterling, Wes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North, posted a picture of a pound coin.
Government unveils new coin worth 50 pence after Brexit. pic.twitter.com/vtWyPlJXxk
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) October 29, 2018
The pound remains more than 10% below its value before the EU referendum.
His parliamentary colleague Rupa Huq, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton, said the coin represented “the shrinking of sterling and national stature on world stage. It’s also a heck of a lot bigger than the Brexit dividend will be and perfect for deflecting away from [a] glut of bad economic news.”
It wasn’t long before the jokes started on social media, as others soon found images they thought might be a more appropriate metaphor for Brexit to display on a coin:
Brexit 50p pic.twitter.com/CkqpaI1CUQ
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) October 29, 2018
And others thought, given the progress with negotiations, the wording might need changing.
My pitch for what should be written on the back of the Brexit 50p pic.twitter.com/I6aiSdAhdA
— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) October 29, 2018
The phrase expected to be on the coin is rather pointed but isn’t especially British. It is a truncated version of a quote from the former US president Thomas Jefferson, who said: “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.”
Some suggested that perhaps the new coinage could be made more memorable by adopting a unique and appropriate shape.
A glimpse of the new Brexit 50p coin. pic.twitter.com/VyDIpqRWwA
— Jono Read (@jonoread) October 29, 2018
As more and more people re-imagined the Brexit 50p, a favourite phrase from the sitcom Dad’s Army sprang to the mind of one social media user.
Brexit 50p designs leaked pic.twitter.com/rFtuQF3Hq4
— Olaf Falafel (@OFalafel) October 29, 2018
And another suggested this alternative, with an eloquently written description: “One side features the Queen with her head in her hand, quietly sobbing, while the other has a comprehensive list of the benefits the people of the UK will receive on leaving the EU.”
That side of the coin is left blank.
The Brexit 50p design has been officially revealed. "One side features the Queen with her head in her hand, quietly sobbing, while the other has a comprehensive list of the benefits the people of the UK will receive on leaving the EU" #BrexitCoin #brexit50p pic.twitter.com/uP7EHtpfpt
— HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) October 29, 2018
The UK is definitely striking it out alone with the plan, as the move to celebrate Brexit with a coin will not be echoed across the channel. The EU has already said it has no plans to mint a special euro coin to mark Brexit. “We have no current plans to do anything of the sort,” said a European commission spokesperson.
In 1998 the Treasury issued a special 50p coin to celebrate the UK’s presidency of the EU and 25 years of membership of the EU. The UK also issued a commemorative 50p in 1973 to mark joining the EEC.
The move to celebrate Brexit in this way may be ultimately self-defeating. As one person put it on Twitter:
Ah, the "Brexit 50p" because nothing says "bring the country together" like memorialising a decision at least 50% of the population vehemently disagrees with 👍
— Rob "The Wise Philosopher" Jones (@bobvodka) October 29, 2018
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