Royal Mint launches £5 coin to mark The Queen's 95th birthday

5 January 2021, 11:43

A new £5 coin is one of five commemorative coins to be released this year.

Royal Mint have announced that a new £5 coin will be released for The Queen's 95th birthday this year.

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The Queen will become the first UK monarch to reach 95 this April, and the coin will be a 'floral tribute' featuring her own words, "my heart and my devotion", which are from the first Christmas broadcast in 1957.

In the speech, she said: "In the old days the monarch led his soldiers on the battlefield and his leadership at all times was close and personal.

"Today things are very different. 

"I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations."

Timothy Noad, the designer of the coin, said: "Her Majesty The Queen is well-known as a lover of flowers and gardens.

“I like the idea that a posy or bouquet is often presented to The Queen, perhaps on her birthday, and that this could be a tribute from the four nations of the United Kingdom."

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A £5 coin is usually released to mark significant royal events in the country, but the new millennium and anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo have also been commemorated in this way.

Other commemorative coins to be released this year include:

- A £2 for the 250th anniversary of the birth of novelist Sir Walter Scott

- A £2 for the 75th anniversary of the death of author HG Wells

- A 50p coin for The 75th anniversary of the death of the inventor John Logie Baird

- A 50p coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of decimalisation, when Britain's modern coins were introduced

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Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of the Consumer Division at The Royal Mint said that the commemorative coins marked "some of the biggest anniversaries in 2021".

She added: "Each coin is a miniature work of art and has been designed as a treasured keepsake or gift".

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