New Harry Potter coins to feature portraits of the King and Queen Elizabeth II

A new coin collection from the Royal Mint celebrating 25 years of Harry Potter will feature portraits of both Queen Elizabeth II and the King.

The coins celebrate a quarter of a century since Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling was first published in the UK in 1997 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter collection is expected to be “one of a small number” that will see a change of portrait during the series.

The first two coins in the collection will feature the portrait of Her Late Majesty, and the final two will feature the official portrait of King Charles III.

The first coin in the series depicts the boy wizard himself and is available to buy from the Royal Mint’s website.

Prices range from £11 for a brilliant uncirculated 50p to £5,215 for a £200 denomination gold Harry Potter coin, with a colour version of the Harry Potter 50p available for £20.

Other pieces in the collection will feature the Hogwarts Express, Professor Albus Dumbledore and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Many of the coins in the range also boast a “latent feature” which rotates in the light to reveal a lightning bolt and the number 25 to mark the anniversary year.

An advanced picosecond laser was used by The Royal Mint to imprint the intricate design onto coin making tools to ensure accuracy, and create an additional, special effect to further enhance the coin’s design.

Nicola Howell, chief commercial officer at the Royal Mint said: “As the official maker of UK coins, we are delighted to make a spellbinding coin collection to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone. The first coin in the collection, celebrating Harry Potter, will be available for collectors and fans to buy from today.”

Jim Kay, illustrator and designer of the Harry Potter coin collection said: “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. It is the same for most aspects of publishing – because you are on your own all of the time in a studio, none of it quite seems real until you see the book on a shelf in a shop.

“Then you think ‘oh yeah! I did that!’ This is completely new to me though, a coin!”

Ffion Gwillim, the Royal Mint designer who modelled the artwork onto coins, said: “The Harry Potter illustrations are so iconic and recognisable, we wanted to faithfully recreate them on a UK coin for the first time.

“Working with Jim Kay, we’ve created a collection which is a fitting celebration to the original artwork and the iconic story.”