A 50p reward... for giving the world television!
IT was a world-changing invention that rapidly became common currency.
Now the Scot who created the first working television, John Logie Baird, is being celebrated with a 50p coin.
The Royal Mint confirmed the life and work of the engineering pioneer will be honoured by the commemorative coin as part of a tribute to innovation in science.
It was designed to mark the 75th anniversary of the death of the ‘Father of Television’, who lived from 1888 to 1946. Born in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Baird was the son of a clergyman and studied electrical engineering at Glasgow’s Royal Technical College.
The coin depicts a broadcast transmission, with concentric circles pulsing outward from a silhouette of the Crystal Palace mast in London, the site of Baird’s television station and transmitter.
Baird achieved renown after managing to relay a static image in 1924, and in 1928 he demonstrated the first transatlantic TV transmission from London to New York.
His grandson, Ian Baird, said: ‘The Baird family feels extremely honoured that the Royal Mint has chosen to recognise my grandfather’s contributions in this way.’
The coins, which become available from today, are in different limited edition ‘proofs’, with prices ranging from £10 to £1,005.