Dumbledore continues the Royal Mint’s celebrations of Harry Potters 25th anniversary – the first with a King Charles III obverse

The third of four coins in a series celebrating the 25th anniversary since the publication of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ is now here, and features the wizard Dumbledore. He follows coins issued last year with Harry Potter on one, and Hogwarts Express on the other. As they were 2022 issues, they carried the usual Jody Clark effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, but Dumbledore, and the upcoming Hogwarts School issues, use the new King Charles III effigy, for obvious reasons.

It’s another neat piece of art, in a series that has been surprisingly well done, in our view at least. Free of gimmickry, and drawing heavily on the books rather than the films, has certainly helped. The Royal Mint does love its literature coins, and we’re on board with that. The usual extensive selection of formats, all carrying the same basic design, with the coloured eight-gram 50p issue being the primary one, certainly in numbers. There are also bas-metal versions in colour and clean variants, the former exclusively sold by the mint. We’ll add these to our comprehensive Harry Potter coin guide shortly. Available now.

PRESS RELEASE:

The Royal Mint, official maker of UK coins, has today launched its first collectable 50p of the year featuring the Professor Albus Dumbledore… The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter collection will 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 coins will feature the official portrait of King Charles III. A change of portrait during the series is a rare occasion, making these set of coins highly collectable.

The Professor Albus Dumbledore collectable 50p coin is part of a larger Harry Potter collection celebrating 25 years since the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling was first published in the UK in 1997 by Bloomsbury Publishing. Other coins in the collection feature the wizard himself Harry Potter, the Hogwarts Express and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on their own individual coin.

The Harry Potter coin collection has already received a popular response globally, with collectors and Harry Potter enthusiasts across 86 countries having bought at least one coin in the range. The Royal Mint has seen a strong response from younger families and millennials (28%) purchasing coins in the Harry Potter collection directly from the Mint, linking with those who grew up reading the series of books and finding nostalgia with each coin in the series.

Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint said, “We are delighted to be continuing our spellbinding Harry Potter coin collection with Professor Albus Dumbledore featuring on his very own 50p. The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter coin collection has seen a popular response among collectors worldwide, not only for the books being a global phenomenon, but due to the collection being one of a small number that will see a change of portrait during the series. The 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore marks this change of portrait, with His Majesty King Charles III’s official coin portrait now appearing for the first time in the series. This collection of coins serves as a permanent reminder of the fascinating transition from Britain’s longest reigning monarch to His Majesty the King’s first appearance on UK coinage.”

Combining traditional minting techniques with technology, The Royal Mint’s craftspeople have faithfully reproduced Jim Kay’s illustrations in colour for the first time on official UK coins. Many of the coins in the range also feature an enchanting ‘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.

Available on a range of denominations including a 50p, all four coins have been modelled by Ffion Gwillim at The Royal Mint, which feature the work of Jim Kay, the artist who created the first fully illustrated edition of this Harry Potter story.

GOLD RANGE SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION £200 UKP £25 UKP £0.5 UKP
COMPOSITION 62.42 grams of 0.9999 gold 7.8 grams of 0.9999 gold 15.50 grams of 0.9167 gold
DIMENSIONS 40.0 mm 22.0 mm 27.3 mm
FINISH Proof Proof Proof
MINTAGE (TOTAL) 60 510 310
R.R.P. £5,215.00 £725.00 £1,195.00
SILVER RANGE SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION £10 UKP £5 UKP £2 UKP £0.5 UKP
COMPOSITION 156.3 grams of 0.999 silver 62.86 grams of 0.999 silver 31.21 grams of 0.999 silver 8.0 grams of 0.925
DIMENSIONS 65.0 mm 40.0 mm 38.61 mm 27.3 mm
FINISH Proof Proof Proof Proof, Colour
MINTAGE (TOTAL) 310 510 5,010 15,010
R.R.P. £480.00 £190.00 £99.50 £69.50

WHERE TO BUY PAGE