Official Royal Wedding coin goes into production at the Royal Mint

The Royal Mint has unveiled the official UK coin commemorating the wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton.

The coin has gone into production at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales.

Approved by the Royal Household and the Government, the coin features relaxed, modern portraits of the couple, an approach also evident in the informal use of their names and the date of the wedding circulating their portraits. The obverse bears a portrait of Prince William's grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen.

The coin has been designed by Mark Richards, Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, following an invitation-only tender process involving a handful of British sculptors. His submission was selected by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, a panel made up of experts in art, design, history and heraldry, chaired at the time of the decision by Sir Christopher Frayling, former Rector of the Royal College of Art.

Mark Richards said: "It's a tremendous honour and privilege to have been chosen to design the Royal Wedding coin. As a sculptor I'm used to working in 3D, so my specific challenges were not only capturing the nuances of Catherine Middleton and Prince William's features, but also faithfully rendering their expressions in such a small space. I was inspired by what I think is best summed up as the spirit of 'friendship in love'. It was important to me to capture the relaxed intimacy of a modern couple, without compromising the historical significance of the wedding itself."

Kevin Clancy, Director of the Royal Mint Museum said: "The Royal Mint has produced coins for the British Monarchy for over 1,000 years, and while this latest coin features the country's future King and Queen, it is actually a coin for the people who want to commemorate the Royal Wedding with their own piece of history."

The coin is also available to purchase in the precious metals silver, gold and platinum.