On Monday, The Royal Mint has launched the sixth 50p coin in its official Christmas coin series, celebrating the beloved character, The Snowman in collaboration with Snowman Enterprises Ltd (a Penguin Random House company), featuring THE WORLD OF THE SNOWMAN™.
The coin is the sixth to be added to the Mint’s Christmas coin series in celebration of Raymond Briggs’s tale of a young boy and his snowman.
The Snowman™, created and illustrated by Raymond Briggs, is one of the most popular and iconic picture books in the world, which perfectly captures the wonder and innocence of childhood. This timeless and magical tale tells a story of friendship, imagination love and loss.
The collectable 50p coin celebrates the iconic picture book, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. This will be the first of The Royal Mint’s collectable 50p coins celebrating THE WORLD OF THE SNOWMAN featuring the official coinage portrait of King Charles III.
23rd October 2023:
The Royal Mint, official maker of UK coins, has launched an officially licensed, collectable 50p coin celebrating Raymond Briggs’ iconic picture book The Snowman™ with a new design by award-winning illustrator and animator, Robin Shaw.
The coin is the sixth to be added to The Royal Mint’s Christmas coin series celebrating the magical, timeless, tale of a young boy and his snowman. The story began as a wordless picture book, created, and illustrated by the late Raymond Briggs in 1978. The Snowman, published by Puffin, has sold over 5.5 million copies around the world. This will also be the first coin to celebrate THE WORLD OF THE SNOWMAN to feature the official coinage portrait of King Charles III.
The 2023 design tells the magical story of James, who builds a snowman that magically comes to life, following the popularity of the series. Both embark on an unforgettable adventure. The dedicated design team at The Royal Mint combine innovative digital colour printing technology with traditional craftsmanship to bring the design to life, keeping true to the hand-drawn, nostalgic quality of Shaw’s sketches, inspired by Raymond’s original illustrations.
Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint Rebecca Morgan stated that the Royal Mint was delighted to celebrate the tale of The Snowman on official UK coins for its sixth year in 2023. She said, continuing their partnership with award-winning illustrator Robin Shaw, they were excited to release another original festive coin bringing Raymond Brigg’s story to life in a new way.
This year’s edition of The Snowman coin, being the first of our Christmas coins with King Charles III’s effigy on its obverse, is particularly special. “We hope that people love the coin’s design and look to collect a piece of British Christmas history.”
Speaking about the design, award-winning animator and illustrator, Robin Shaw said she was thrilled to enter her sixth year working with The Royal Mint, helping to bring Raymond Briggs’ classic winter’s tale to life for fans of the story and collectors alike.
This is the sixth collectable Snowman coin released by The Royal Mint in collaboration with Snowman Enterprises Ltd and officially licensed by Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House UK), with the first coin released in 2018.
Please visit The Royal Mint website for more information, and to purchase The Snowman™ 2023 collectable coin collection.
The Snowman has sold over 5.5 million copies around the world (Royal Mint/PA). Part of the Royal Mint’s Christmas coin series, this 2023 coin marks the sixth edition in celebration of Raymond Briggs’s heartwarming tale, where the design of the coin beautifully illustrates the enchanting story of James.
The prices of the coin range from £11 for a brilliant uncirculated coin and £20 for a colour version to £1,220 for a gold proof coin.
