The Royal Mint launched this week the final 50p coin in its Harry Potter collection, celebrating 25 years since the publication of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with a coin featuring the enchanting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Royal Mint has launched its final individual collectable 50p coin in its Harry Potter collection, with the reverse featuring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter collection is one of a small number that saw a change of portrait during the series. The first two coins in the collection featured the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, with the final two featuring King Charles III’s official portrait. A portrait change during the series is rare, making this set of coins highly collectable. The launch of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 50p marks the conclusion of this unique collection of coins.
The Harry Potter coin collection has received a popular response globally, with collectors and Harry Potter enthusiasts across 86 countries buying at least one coin in the range. The Royal Mint has seen a strong response from younger families and millennials (28 per cent) purchasing coins in the Harry Potter collection directly from the Mint, linking with those who grew up reading the series of books and finding nostalgia with each coin in the series.
Rebecca Morgan, the Mint’s director of collector services, said, “We have thoroughly enjoyed celebrating 25 years since the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first released with a unique coin collection. Today, we conclude this very special and popular coin collection, with a coin featuring the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It felt fitting to have the final coin in this collection feature Hogwarts School, the place where Harry Potter became one of the greatest wizards of all time. This collection of coins has received a popular response among ‘Potterheads’ across the globe, who have found nostalgia with each coin in the series.”
The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry collectable 50p coin is part of a larger Harry Potter collection featuring the wizard himself Harry Potter, the Hogwarts Express and Professor Albus Dumbledore on their coin.
The first two coins in the collection featured the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, with the final two featuring King Charles III’s official image.
Combining traditional minting techniques with technology, The Royal Mint’s craftspeople have faithfully reproduced Jim Kay’s illustrations in colour for the first time on official UK coins. Many of the coins in the range also feature an enchanting ‘latent feature’ which rotates in the light to reveal a lightning bolt and the number ‘25’ to mark the anniversary year*. The Royal Mint used an advanced picosecond laser to imprint the intricate design onto coin-making tools to ensure accuracy and create an additional, special effect to enhance the coin’s design further.
Available in a range of denominations, including a 50p, all four coins have been modelled by Ffion Gwillim at The Royal Mint, which features the work of Jim Kay, the artist who created the first fully illustrated edition of this Harry Potter story.
The coin series has been created in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing, The Blair Partnership and Warner Bros, Consumer Products. The final coin in the collection featuring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is available to purchase from The Royal Mint’s website with customers able to secure all four coins at once: Harry Potter | The Royal Mint