TEAM GB 50p BECOMES ‘DUAL-DATED’ COIN

The Royal Mint has unveiled the official Team GB commemorative 50p, originally intended to be issued in 2020, to honour Britain’s athletes competing at this year’s Olympic Games.

Available in Gold, Silver, Brilliant Uncirculated, and colour versions, the coin was designed by David Knapton and first appeared in The Royal Mint’s 2020 Annual Set. As our special article explains on page 58, the coin features two dates after ‘a year like no other’. The design bares the ‘2020’ graphic, while the obverse of the coin reveals the year of production ‘2021’.

The Royal Mint’s Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin Clare Maclennan said: ‘We have a rich sporting heritage in Great Britain and, inspired by the stories of the athletes preparing for Tokyo 2020, we want to reignite that spirit of unity for Team GB with the launch of the official commemorative coin.

‘The design of the coin, with its contemporary sporting icons, flashes of colour and commemorative date on the surface of a 50p, represent the breadth of British sporting talent coming together as one and gives a nod to the vibrancy of the host nation that will resonate with athletes, sports fans and coin collectors ahead of the greatest sporting show on earth.’

Team GB’s Head of Licensing Paul Ellis commented: ‘Our licensing agreement with The

Royal Mint has gone from strength to strength and it gives me great pleasure to launch the official Team GB coin so that fans can show their support for their sporting heroes by owning a special commemorative keepsake with just over a month to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.’

The coin is the next instalment in a longrunning series of 50p coins, which began in 2012, when The Royal Mint issued 29 coins designed by the public for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. When released into circulation, these Olympic coins became some of the most collectable 50ps.