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The Royal Mint minted the first coins depicting King Charles.
The portrait, inserted at left, was designed by British artist Martin Jennings from an image created for the monarch’s 70th birthday.
The king looks to the left – the opposite direction from his deceased mother, as is traditional.
Moreover, unlike queens, kings do not wear crowns. About 9.6 million coins will come into circulation in December.
King Charles’ coin will show him to the left, the opposite of his mother as is tradition. About 9.6 million of the coins will enter circulation in December
In tribute to the late Queen, the reverse of the 50 pence coin, inlaid on the right, shows the design marking her coronation in 1953, with the royal coat of arms and the emblems of the homelands – a rose, a thistle, a clover and a leek.
Old coins will still be legal tender and will need to be replaced as they wear out.
Historically, it was common for coins depicting several monarchs to be used at the same time and this will now happen with coins depicting the late Queen and Charles.
Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum, said: ‘For many people this is the first time in their lives that they have seen a new monarch appear on money.
“It represents the biggest change in British coinage since decimalisation and will usher in a new era in which the coins of Queen Elizabeth II and Charles will circulate in the UK together.
“The new 50 pence memorial marks a moment in history and honors a historic reign that lasted 70 years.”
The coins are made on demand in line with the wishes of the King and the late Queen, who asked for minimal waste in the process.
Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at the Royal Mint, confirmed that ‘nothing has been removed or changed just for the sake of change’.
“It was not unusual to see two or three different monarchs on coins before decimalization,” she said.
“Due to decimalization, most people under 50 have only seen Queen Elizabeth II in their pocket.”
The 50 pence coin was chosen because it is one of the most popular for people to start collecting.
“I find it really poignant that the king’s first coins are a tribute to his late mother,” Ms Morgan added.
“The only difference on the reverse of the coin is the date on either side of the leek, which is 2022 instead of 1953.”
Artist Martin Jennings with one of the first coins depicting the portrait of King Charles III that was minted at the Royal Mint in Pontyclun, Wales
It takes between 18 months and two years to design a coin, with the monarch personally signing off each coin.
Before her death, the Queen signed a number of coins – including a Harry Potter commemorative series – and production of these will continue.
This means that two of the Harry Potter series will feature the Queen, and the last two will bear the portrait of the King.
The production of coins depicting the Queen’s portrait will be completed by the end of the year.
Acclaimed British artist Martin Jennings, who usually works in bronze and stone, designed the official portrait of Charles to be minted on coins.
In the portrait, Charles is looking to the left, in the opposite direction to his mother.
This is because, according to tradition, monarchs face their predecessors on coins.
Tradition also dictates that kings do not wear crowns in their portraits on coins, while queens are depicted crowned.
Artist Martin Jennings with one of the first coins depicting the portrait of King Charles III that was minted at the Royal Mint in Pontyclun, Wales
Mr. Jennings worked with images of Charles created on the occasion of his 70th birthday and began drawing his design on paper before creating a plaster model.
“It’s painstaking work with micron materials,” he said.
“It has to be an absolute likeness. It is a portrait of the monarch, but also of the individual.’
The completed plaster cast was then handed over to experts at the Royal Mint, where it was digitally scaled down to fit the size of each coin value.
“It’s been a big design challenge,” said Mr. Jennings. ‘The placement of everything is exactly precise, like the distance between the letters, the proximity to the head.
‘It’s a huge honour. It is extraordinary to think that the smallest work I have ever done is the work that will be reproduced in the most multiples.’
Previous works by Mr Jennings include a sculpture of poet Sir John Betjeman at St Pancras Station, a statue of Nurse Mary Seacole at Westminster Bridge and a bronze bust of the Queen Mother in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Mr Jennings, who officially began production of the 50p coins at the Royal Mint, described seeing them as ‘astonishing’.
“So many are produced so quickly and they’re all so perfect, it’s remarkable,” he said.
To make the 9.6 million coins, four presses will run 16 hours a day on the grounds of the Royal Mint.
Each press can punch 400 coins per minute, yielding approximately 20,000 coins per hour.
The coins are checked and counted before being packed into boxes of 100,000 which are then sent to banks and sorting offices across the country.