By Esmée Hardwick-Slack
With the Budget announcement due later today, it has been reported that a new 50p coin will be issued in March to commemorate Brexit. Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to reveal more details in the Budget today, however, it is rumoured that the coin will feature the Queen on one side, with the phrase ‘Friendship with will nations’ on the reverse, although nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
Many are already questioning whether the Government should be focussing on more urgent matters. Tom Arthur, politician and member of the SNP has said: “With threats to food supplies, fears of medicine shortages and the potential for tens of thousands of job losses; the UK Government is to launch a new 50p coin.”
It was only last year that the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC) issued more than 66 million new 50p coins in five different designs featuring characters created by Beatrix Potter, as well as the physicist Isaac Newton.
According to Treasury sources, the department has been secretly working on plans for the coin for months, before conservative MPs began campaigning for one.
A spokesperson from the RMAC has previously stated: “A great deal of time and effort goes into selecting the most appropriate subjects to be featured on UK coins. Themes are chosen around 18 months prior to the release date of a coin.”
A shortlist of themes then goes through a planning and design process by RMAC. “The aim is to create a range of themes that reflect the most significant and appropriate events for national commemoration. A final recommendation is sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for approval,” said the spokesperson.
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