Her Majesty the Queen is celebrating her 70th year on the throne and a new coin has been released to mark the special occasion.
The Royal Mint has released the special coin as the monarch celebrates her platinum jubilee, the first for a British Queen or King.
However, only a limited number of coins were produced, with the Windsor and Sandringham post offices being among the first to get their hands on them.
By now you probably want to know the value of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee coin and how to get one. Here’s what we know.
Platinum Jubilee: what coin was released and how do I get one?
To mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee, the Royal Mint has issued a limited run of 50p coins, the first of which hit post offices today (Monday 7 February).
A point three million of these collectibles will be available from 11,500 post offices across the UK. Meanwhile, the Royal Mint has set a maximum mintage of 5,000,070 coins – the 70 is meant to mark Her Majesty’s long reign.
Read more: Platinum Jubilee: What does Queen Consort mean?
The 50p coin features a number 70 with the date of Her Majesty’s long reign and a royal cypher within the zero. On the back is a portrait of the Queen.
Umesh Sanghani and his wife Rashmita were among the post offices waiting to receive their commemorative coins.
Their Dedworth Green Post Office shop is in Windsor and the couple were delighted to hear there would be a special coin. They said: “We’ve had many customers come to our post office to check if we’re going to get the special 50p coin.
“You don’t want to miss out on this souvenir. i am a royalist It is amazing that the Queen has reached her 70th birthday. I am really looking forward to the celebrations this year.”
The 50 pence coin was designed by the Osborne Ross agency. And alongside a 50p coin, the Royal Mint has unveiled a £5 coin designed by John Bergdahl which has not yet come into circulation.
Nick Read, Chief Executive at Post Office, said: “We are delighted to be part of the celebrations of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee and that our 11,500 post offices across the UK will exclusively start issuing this special 50p coin today.
“Postmasters are at the heart of their local communities and have been throughout our 360 year history. I have no doubt that this will be a real honor and privilege for Postmasters and their teams.”
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