A new coin has been launched by The Royal Mint to mark the 50th anniversary of Pride UK.
The coin marks the first time Britain's LGBTQ+ community has been celebrated on official UK coinage and was developed in collaboration with Pride in London.
The design honours the values, protest, visibility, unity, and equality in rainbows on the reverse of the coin.
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Made with state-of-the-art colour printing technology, the iconic rainbow colours of the Pride flag have been recreated with special-edition colour versions of the silver and uncirculated coins, as Hull Live reports.
Making the landmark design accessible to all, five million coins will also enter general circulation later this year.
The design of the 50p was born out of an art competition where The Royal Mint invited participating artists from an LGBTQ+ art exhibition hosted by Pride UK, to submit their entries.
Dominique Holmes, an east London artist, writer, and LGBTQ+ activist's design caught the attention of The Royal Mint and won.
Dominique said: “Working to the scale of a 50 pence piece was interesting for me as I’m used to working on a larger scale.
"The main challenge was ensuring that the important messages of protest and visibility could be clearly understood on the coin. I had to keep a 50p next to me at all times as I worked to keep my sketches in check.
“Seeing the design and the message of Protest and Pride on the coin itself was quite moving. Growing up in the eighties and nineties in the UK, I never saw this sort of positive LGBTQ+ representation, and I feel very proud to have worked on something that celebrates and commemorates such an historic moment for the LGBTQ+ community and the Pride movement so publicly.
“This is a significant milestone in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and equality. Pride means so much to me and so many people across the UK and beyond, and it’s important that we take time to celebrate the progress made over the last 50 years, while continuing the important work for our community."
As part of the launch, The Royal Mint will make a financial contribution to London LGBT Community Pride C.I.C.
The 50p will be available to purchase via The Royal Mint website and includes gold, silver, and brilliant uncirculated versions.
