Great Britain's Royal Mint is updating the nation's coinage in a most surprising way. Although the new coins will retain the same sizes, weights, and metallic compositions, they are getting a startling face lift. The new coins, designed by Matthew Dent, feature traditional British and royal heraldry designs, but executed in a very 21st century way. Each coin bears a portion of an overall main design, which form a shield bearing the Royal Arms of England. If you look at the photo carefully, you will see that each coin has a portion of this overall shield on it!

The new designs, which are the first major overhaul of British coinage since the Brits went on the decimal monetary system 40 years ago, are the result of a nationwide open design competition. Dent, a professional graphic artist who is 26, swept the competition with his clever shield arrangement. And although the intention was to redesign only the minor coinage, (the Penny through the 50 Pence,) Mint authorities decided the include the £1 coin as well. The £1 (not shown) bears the entire shield design on its reverse. All of the new designs, like all British coins, bear the standard portrait of the Queen on the obverse.

The Royal Mint has set up a special section of its Web site to introduce the new coins. Here are a few highlights:

• Home Page For the New Designs
• Biography Page About Matthew Dent
• Video of the New Coins Being Introduced (Includes footage of coins being minted)

You can also visit the main Royal Mint Web site to see what else is going on in British coinage these days. If you like these cool new coins as much as I do, you can buy a limited-edition Proof Set of them on the Royal Mint's Web site. Mintage is limited to a mere 20,000 so you'd better hurry if you want one. I just ordered both a Proof Set and an Uncirculated Set (mintage limit 100,000 sets) in the Base Metal option, although they have some pricey precious metal options available, too.

Photo courtesy of the British Royal Mint. Special thanks to Scott P. Richert, the About.com Guide to Catholicism, and Scott Purvis at CoinLink News, both of whom made me aware of this new issue simultaneously. (I was reading Scott P.'s wonderful numismatic news roundup when the email came in from Scott R. As they say in Britain, "great Scott!" =)