Royal Mint keeps the Winnie the Pooh coin series going

The 50-penny commemorative coin celebrates 95 years since the beloved bear began his adventures. Winnie the Pooh is accompanied by his trusted friends Owl, Eeyore and Rabbit.

These coins are not intended to be circulated and are only issued at a premium over face value for collectors.

The Royal Mint published the first three designs featuring Winnie, Christopher Robin, and Piglet last year.

The 2021 coin design was inspired by E.H. Shepard's original decorations for A.A. Milne classic tales, first published in 1926.

You can purchase the coins in silver, gold, or copper-nickel varieties. There are also special colored versions.

In 2021, Winnie the Pooh will have the "wise" Owl as well as the "wonderful Tigger characters on their respective official UK coins.

Inspiration for designers and information

The Royal Mint's product design team, Daniel Thorne, kept the Shepard artwork intact throughout the Winnie the Pooh series. However, he added his own twist with a bee motif that is featured in every design.

Clare Maclennan is the Royal Mint's Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin. She said that Winnie-the-Pooh was a beloved children's classic and has been passed on through generations, much like coin collecting. The latest Winnie-the-Pooh design, featuring Pooh with his friends, is fittingly dedicated to Winnie's 95th anniversary.

She said: "Winnie the Pooh fans can enjoy the coins either as a whole or as part the nine-coin set that has been released over the past three years." This 50p coin series will bring these characters and their memories to life. We are excited!

Thorne stated, "Using inspirations from E.H. Shepard's original decorations has been a wonderful experience but also one that has tested me as a designer. Each design has required a great deal of attention to recreate the famous decorations on the coin's canvas while keeping true to the text people love and know. The bee motif was also something I wanted to make special for collectors. The original decorations inspired me to include the buzzy bee of the storybooks on each of the nine coins. I hope collectors will appreciate the beauty of each design and the special colour editions.

Specifications

All coins have the Jody Clark effigy Queen Elizabeth II on their obverse.

There are two versions of Brilliant Uncirculated copper nickel, one plain and one with bright colors. Also available is a Proof.925 fine-silver option and a proof.9167 fine-red gold version.

The coins are 27.3 millimeters wide. All versions of the base metal and silver coins weigh 8 grams each, while the gold coin weighs 15.5 grams.

The plain copper-nickel coin is available in unlimited mintage at a retail price of PS10.

The copper-nickel colored coin retails at PS20 and has a limit of 45,000 coins.

The mintage for the silver coin is limited and it retails at PS67.50

PS1,065. This limited edition gold coin is limited to 630 pieces