Born in 1885 in Kent, Malcolm Campbell grew up to have an obsession with speed after discovering the joys of motorbikes while working in Germany. He also had a talent for it, winning the 1906, 1907, and 1908 London to Land’s End trials. He migrated to cars, entering races from 1910 at the world-famous Brooklands track, before a spell as a motorcycle dispatch rider in the First World War. Campbell moved on to Grand Prix racing, winning the Grand Prix de Boulogne in France, in 1927 and 1928. He also had a fascination with speed records.

Campbell undertook many speed runs, setting the world record on no fewer than nine occasions. He was the first to break 150mph, doing so in 1925 in a car he named Blue Bird, his fourth to carry that now legendary name. He was the second to break 200mph, and the first to exceed 300mph. It was his equally famous son, Donald, that smashed the 400mph land speed record in 1964, also in a car named Bluebird. Malcolm also set the water speed record four times, also in a Blue Bird. A true legend, he was knighted in 1931, and died in 1948.

The coin depicts Campbell, in a racing helmet and goggles, in front of which is the blue 350HP V12 Sunbeam that took him to 150+mph. It’s a very good likeness, inspired by a photograph taken around 1935. A stylised track with a pair of cars on it, gives the Sunbeam a sense of speed, which suits the theme well. Struck by the Mint of Poland, this coin is issued by the Central Bank of Malta, and has a mintage of 700 pieces. A fine coin celebrating a quintessential British have-a-go lunatic…