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Horrible Brexit 50p piece

The Brexit coin has been criticised, “for rubbing the remainer’s nose in it”. This seems unreasonable, considering that a coin was issued when the UK joined in 1973, and there was another one in 1998. Philip Pullman made a fool of himself by complaining about the absence of the ‘Oxford comma’, a convention of the Oxford University Press. I would have thought that Pullman, as a member of the Oxford Militant Atheists Brigade, would have been more concerned about the letters ‘FD’ in the inscription around the Queen's head.

It is depressing that no-one has criticised the design of the coin itself. The typeface looks like, though it probably is not, Zapf Chancery, one that comes with every computer. The seven-sided UK 50p coins are an ugly lump of metal; in fact the entire UK coin set lacks coherence, unlike the Euro set. When coins are worth more than their face value if struck in copper, it is time to withdraw that denomination. The best of the UK coins is the finely proportioned £2 piece, which makes it better suited as a commemorative, and also allows an inscription round the rim. A appropriate choice would have been a revival of the long-lost and charming Britannia design used on the 1860 bun penny, ruling the waves with a ship and lighthouse in the background. There has been a sad failure of imagination or knowledge of history.

Surely the Royal Mint could have done better?

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