 The UK will also enter a new transition era where currencies featuring both Queen Elizabeth II and Charles will co-circulate. Rebecca Morgan, director of collector services at the Royal Mint said: 'Most people under the age of 50 only ever have seen Queen Elizabeth II in their pockets.' 'It wasn't unusual to see two or three different monarchs on coins before decimalisation,' she said. British artist Martin Jennings, who designed the new 50p coin, said it is extremely painstaking work. 'It is extremely painstaking work with microns of material,' he said. 'It has to be an absolute likeness. It is a portrait of the monarch but also of the individual.' Mr Jennings used images of Charles taken to mark his 70th birthday and began by drawing his design on paper, before creating a model in plaster. Coin designer Martin Jennings said it is extremely painstaking work ( PA) 'It has been a big design challenge,' Mr Jennings said. 'The placing of everything is exactly precise,){kind=link}
The UK is set to see the biggest change to its coinage in decades as the 50p undergoes its transition to display the new monarch – and there will be two key differences to look out for
The first 50p coins featuring King Charles III are now in production at the Royal Mint, with plans to appear in purses and wallets this December.
It represents the biggest change to UK coinage in over 50 years and will mark the transition from the late Queen Elizabeth II to the country’s new monarch.
The new 50p will show Charles’ faces to the left, in the opposite direction to his mother.
This is because tradition states that each new monarch should face the opposite way to their predecessors on coinage.