It’s such a ubiquitous part of everyday life, that it’s hard to believe Email is only 50 years old. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson developed the first networked Email service, running on ARPANET, and using the now commonplace ‘@’ symbol. Just a few years later, and the system became formalised into what we still use today. Over 300 BILLION emails are sent every day worldwide, with some 85% being classified as spam, so it joins pretty much every other invention by man in being abused by man…

This new coin by World Coin Appreciation is the first we’ve seen to mark the anniversary of this pivotal technology. They’ve done so with a one-ounce 0.999 silver coin, that depicts a portion of a computer keyboard, with what would be the ENTER key replaced by a coloured one that simply says ‘E-mail’, along with its iconic symbol.

It’s struck to a proof standard, and the obverse is a standard Niue affair, featuring the Ian Rank Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.  Packaging consists of a latex-skin ‘floating frame’, complete with a custom insert. Just 500 will be struck. A neat idea, and one we’re surprised hasn’t been picked up elsewhere. Available to pre-order now, it will ship from January.