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Coins are pieces of art and maintainers of history and tradition and so to see my design on an official UK coin that celebrates and raises awareness of such an important discovery is a dream come true.Iris De La Torre

The Royal Mint has today unveiled a brand new 50p celebrating ‘100 years of Insulin’ – designed by renowned jewellery artist Iris De La Torre.

The commemorative 50p celebrates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, marking the historic medical breakthrough for the first time on official UK coin. It is the fifth coin in The Royal Mint’s ‘Innovation in Science’ series and celebrates the discovery by researchers; Dr John Macleod, Sir Frederick Banting, Dr Charles Best and Dr James Collip in 1921.

First-time coin designer Iris De La Torre was given the honour of creating the ‘100 Years of Insulin’ 50p after her design was selected by The Royal Mint Advisory Committee, and ultimately approved by the Chancellor and Her Majesty the Queen. 

Iris embraced the switch from jewellery to metal with ease, creating a design which represented the chemical construction of insulin through hexagon patterns and a bold typeface. The jewellery artist hails her recent debut in coin design as “a dream come true” and has urged more designers to consider working with The Royal Mint as it looks to attract a more diverse pool of artists.

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Speaking of the opportunity, Iris said: “My work has always had a strong illustrative quality and I was confident that my graphic style would successfully transfer to coin design. Coins are pieces of art and maintainers of history and tradition and so to see my design on an official UK coin that celebrates and raises awareness of such an important discovery is a dream come true.”

The Royal Mint is the original maker of UK coins, and produces a wide range of commemorative designs each year celebrating key themes, anniversaries, and remarkable individuals. Throughout its 1,100-year history of craftsmanship, these coins have been designed by artists from a variety of backgrounds, each applying their own creative interpretations.

The Royal Mint welcomes submissions from all resident artists in the UK, celebrating the best of British talent on official UK coin.

The Royal Mint Design Lead Lee Jones said: “We want to champion the best of British creativity and that means making sure we’re working with a diverse range of artists and designers, alongside our highly skilled in-house teams. It’s such a joy to find and work with talented people like Iris, and having such variety in our artists ensures we raise the bar each time.”

 

Coin title

50p Gold Proof Coin

50p Silver Proof Piedfort Coin

50p Silver Proof Coin

50p Brilliant Uncirculated Coin

Denomination

50p

50p

50p

50p

Issuing Authority

UK

UK

UK

UK

Alloy

916.7 Au

925 Ag

925 Ag

Cupro-nickel

Weight

15.50g

16.00g

8.00g

8.00g

Diameter

27.30mm

27.30mm

27.30mm

27.30mm

Obverse Designer

Jody Clark

Jody Clark

Jody Clark

Jody Clark

Reverse Designer

Iris De La Torre

Iris De La Torre

Iris De La Torre

Iris De La Torre

Quality

Proof

Proof

Proof

Brilliant Uncirculated

Maximum Coin Mintage

260

1,510

3,710

Unlimited

RRP

£1,065

£102.50

£57.50

£10

 

Media enquiries - The Royal Mint Press Office:

0845 600 5018 (calls cost 5p per minute) or email press.office@royalmint.com www.facebook.com/theroyalmint 

www.twitter.com/royalmintuk 

www.instagram.com/royalmintuk                      

 

Images

Please note that copyright protects these assets. They may only be used for editorial purposes and cannot be sold or used for other marketing purposes without the permission of The Royal Mint

© The Royal Mint

About The Royal Mint

The Royal Mint has an unbroken history of minting British coinage dating back over 1,100 years. Based in the Tower of London for over 500 years, by 1812 The Royal Mint had moved out of the Tower to premises on London’s Tower Hill. In 1967 the building of a new Royal Mint began on its current site in South Wales, UK, to accommodate the minting of UK decimal coinage.

Today, The Royal Mint is the world’s largest export mint, supplying coins to the UK and overseas countries. The Royal Mint has also diversified into a number of other complementary businesses, building on the values that have been at the heart of the organisation throughout its history - authenticity, security, precious metals, craftsmanship and design:

Precious Metals

Throughout history The Royal Mint’s name has been synonymous with precious metals and bullion. The organisation trades physical and digital precious metal worldwide and has a global network of distributor partners.

Consumer coin division

The organisation runs a thriving commemorative coin business, gifting, and a collector services division retailing historic coins, an authentication and valuation service and secure storage.

The Royal Mint Experience

The Royal Mint entered the tourism business in 2016 when it opened its popular visitor centre, The Royal Mint Experience, at its home in Llantrisant, South Wales. The attraction welcomes around 100,000 visitors a year.

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