Behind Britain's New Coins

Last month, Britain's Royal Mint unveiled the first new coin designs in UK currency since 1968. The seven new coins, which will be rolled into circulation this summer, range from the penny to the pound and prominently feature the royal shield of arms. The shield is split into pieces between the penny and 50p coins, then replicated in full on the one pound coin. The designs are a result of an open call by the Royal Mint in August 2005, and out of the 4000 entries, the winning idea came from 26-year-old Matt Dent, a designer at London's Three Fish in a Tree studio. He received a reported ?35,000 for his efforts, but no reproduction royalties for the newest addition to the approximately 28 billion British coins in circulation. We spoke to Dent about the entry process, having his design in everyone's pocket and more.

Behind Britain's New Coins

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