The new coin is one of 29 new designs produced by the Royal Mint to mark the 2012 London Olympics. There will be one for each of the sports in the Games, with over 30,000 designs submitted.
Journalist Neil Wolfson submitted the winning footy coin, commenting: “I’m a football fan and have followed the Premier League since its inception and if I had 50p for every time that someone asked me what the offside rule was then I would be a very rich man.”
Only 16 designs have featured on the 50p coin since its introduction 41 years ago and this Olympic event marks the first time that coins have been designed by members of the public.
The Royal Mint’s Director of Commemorative Coin Dave Knight says of the publicly-designed pieces in public circulation: “Every one of our 29 winners is making history.
“Their coins will be treasured mementos of the biggest sporting event to happen on UK shores in a generation and they will be around for generations to come.”
The football coin will also put to rest, finally, those pub and dinner table discussions where various glasses and containers are used to demonstrate football’s most frequently discussed talking point. We can only imagine how relieved former Sky presenter and commentator Andy Gray must be.
