2018-11-01 Thu

The UK would be releasing a new commemorative 50p coin to mark the country’s exit from the European Union on 29th March, the deadline for Brexit. The announcement was made by the UK Treasury on Monday. The first commemorative coins of UK were introduced in 1969. Since then, several 50p commemorative coins have been issued to celebrate special occasions and events. One of them was issued to mark UK’s accession to the European Economic Community in 1973.

A special set of coins featuring characters from Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit were released in 2016 to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the popular British author. Coins celebrating the 250th anniversary of Samuel Johnson’s English dictionary were released in 2005 and coins celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Health Service were issued in 1998.

Many citizens were not really happy about the new Brexit coin, as the political decision of withdrawing from the European Union had led to an economic crisis in March 2016. They believed that the “Holding Hands” design of the coin does not really represent the idea of cutting off from its neighbours.

Image Courtesy: The Royal Mint