The Royal Mint unveils first coin featuring Britannia as a woman of colour

THE Royal mint has launched a new coin that features Britannia – the female warrior who symbolises Britain – as a woman of colour.

It is the first time that Britannia has been featured as a woman of colour on a UK coin.

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The coins are now available to buy on the Royal Mint’s website under its “Premium Exclusive” range.

Prices start from £62.50 for a one-ounce silver coin with a face value of £2, up to a whopping £70,275 for a gold kilo coin with a face value of £1,000.

Because they’re collectable coins, the Royal Mint won’t be putting them into circulation – so you won’t pick one up in your spare change.

Britannia has been pictured on many coins, and was first put on currency during the Roman times over 2,000 years ago.

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She was ditched from coins when the Romans left Britain, but appeared again during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign in the 17th century.

More recently she was featured on the 50p coin in 1971 when the UK switched to decimal coinage, and she also features on the current £2 coin.

But Royal Mint divisional director of commemorative coin Clare Maclennan said it was time that Britannia’s image should be updated.

She added: “Britannia is an enduring symbol of the people, and as the nation evolves it is right that her image should evolve too.”

She added that the Royal Mint will “continue to explore diversity, and reflect a Britain that continues to innovate and evolve”.

The artist who designed the new coin, P.J. Lynch, said he wanted to make Britannia look “strong, resolute and attractive”.

He said he wanted to make her features “reflect something of the diversity of the people of Britain in the 21st century”.

Last year, The Royal Mint announced a commitment to ensuring greater diversity on British coins.

It launched a new 50p piece featuring the words “Diversity built Britain”, and around 2.5million of the coins were released into circulation.

The new 50p was commissioned by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of plans to include a wider range of people on coins and notes in the future.

Earlier this week, The Royal Mint also launched another Mr Men and Little Miss coin that collectors can get their hands on.

Six different coins are up for grabs in the latest collection to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the popular children’s book series.

The first of the Mr Men and Little Miss coins were launched in mid-February – with a gold version selling for a price tag of £2,370.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk