A perennial classic, the Raymond Briggs classic children’s tale, The Snowman, has adorned a Christmas fifty pence coin at the Royal Mint since 2018. Not one of the more extravagant ranges, it’s always been a simple affair, with a gold proof, a coloured silver proof, and a pair of base-metal coins, and so it is for 2023..

The design is, again, by long-time Raymond Briggs collaborator, Robin Shaw, Assistant Director of The Snowman and The Snowdog, the sequel to the original animated adaptation of the book, so clearly in good hands. The artwork is bang on point, as always, and we expect fans of the work to be happy with this one. Available later today. We’ve covered the previous five coins on site.

PRESS RELEASE: The Royal Mint has launched an officially licensed, collectable 50p coin celebrating Raymond Briggs’ iconic picture book The Snowman™ with a new design by award-winning illustrator and animator, Robin Shaw. The coin is the sixth to be added to The Royal Mint’s Christmas coin series celebrating Raymond Briggs’ timeless, magical tale of a young boy and his snowman. The story began as a wordless picture book, created, and illustrated by the late Raymond Briggs in 1978. Published by Puffin, The Snowman has sold over 5.5million copies around the world. This will also be the first coin celebrating THE WORLD OF THE SNOWMAN to feature the official coinage portrait of King Charles III.

Following the popularity of the series, the 2023 design tells the magical story of James, who builds a snowman that magically comes to life. Both embark on an unforgettable adventure. The dedicated design team at The Royal Mint combine traditional craftsmanship with innovative digital colour printing technology to bring the design to life, keeping true to the hand drawn, nostalgic quality of Robin Shaw’s sketches, which are inspired by Raymond Brigg’s original illustrations.