The Mr. Men celebrate 50 years with a new three-design coin range from the Royal Mint
Over 28 countries, the Mr. Men series of childrens books has sold over 100 million books since the first was published in 1971. Mr. Men expanded to Little Miss in 1981, and writing honours passed to creator Roger Hargreaves son, Adam, in 1988. Odd characters like Mr. Rude (me according to the Mrs), Mr. Angry (also apparently me) and Mr. Cool (not this one…), along with Little Miss Scary (definitely the Mrs) and tons more, have captured the imagination of kids for half a century, and continue to do so. Over 90 characters are now available, so we’re all in there somewhere.
Another in a long recent line of coin commemorations by the Royal Mint, the Mr. Men universe gets a three coin series, available in ½oz silver proof, 1oz coloured silver proof, ¼oz gold proof and 1oz gold proof. In addition, base metal versions of all three are available in a cleanly struck style, and in a coloured version, the latter only available from the mint with a mintage capped at 15,000 for a frankly exorbitant £22.50!
The Mr. Men coin is the first to drop and does a good job of replicating the books artwork. These are, by their very nature, simplistic looking coins, but that’s what the original books look like, so we’re not complaining, merely pointing it out. A Little Miss design and one featuring a pair of them, will follow soon. Despite the coloured versions being more in keeping with the original art, we prefer the cleanly struck versions, the smaller silver one comings in a cool acrylic display frame – the bigger one comes in, for the subject, a boringly characterless black coin box.
If you like the subject, there’s little not to love about the coins. A timeless franchise, the designs were even undertaken by Adam Hargreaves himself, so more than the usual ‘interpretation’ by a mint, and genuinely part of the canon. The first one, Mr Happy, is available today, with the usual Royal Mint pricing, especially the 1oz silver, which goes for a wallet busting £97.50 that will turn him into Mr. Skint…
PRESS RELEASE
The Mr. Men Little Miss commemorative coin collection features Mr Happy, Little Miss Sunshine, and Little Miss Giggles with Mr Strong on a £5 crown. All three coin designs have been created exclusively by Adam Hargreaves, son of creator Roger Hargreaves, to celebrate the characters’ 50th anniversary. The Brilliant Uncirculated edition of the coin features the latest colour printing techniques showcasing the Mr. Men Little Miss characters in vivid colour – capturing their vibrant personalities. The Royal Mint will also be hiding 50 golden Mr Tickle tickets amongst all three of the colour brilliant uncirculated commemorative coins. Every customer that finds a gold Mr Tickle ticket will be entitled to a Mr Men and Little Miss prize bundle.
Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint spoke with Adam Hargreaves in a zoom call, where they discussed the designs and characters, the excitement around Mr. Men Little Miss turning 50 and what steps The Royal Mint takes to produce a coin that celebrates an occasion such as this.
Clare comments, “Each year we celebrate British icons, anniversaries and moments from history on commemorative coins, and this is a fun new addition to the collection. With this year marking the 50th anniversary since the Mr. Men Little Miss characters were introduced to the world, it felt right to celebrate the loveable characters on their own commemorative coins.
“All three coin designs have been designed exclusively by Adam Hargreaves, son of Roger Hargreaves the original creator and illustrator of the Mr. Men Little Miss. I had the pleasure of chatting to Adam in a recent zoom call and it was brilliant to hear his positive feedback on the range.”
Adam Hargreaves, son of Roger Hargreaves, main author and illustrator of Mr. Men and Little Miss and designer of the Mr. Men Little Miss commemorative coin collection said, “It is an absolute honour to not only have the Mr. Men Little Miss characters’ feature on official UK commemorative coins but to have the opportunity to create the designs that feature on the coins too. Over the past 50 years Mr. Men Little Miss characters’ have grown to become a global favourite amongst many and I am delighted to be celebrating 50 years of fun with The Royal Mint and I hope fans of the Mr. Men Little Miss series will be just as thrilled with this commemorative coin collection as I am.”
Created by prolific illustrator Roger Hargreaves in 1971, the Mr. Men Little Miss books and their ever-growing world of ‘Happyland’ have become a global favourite amongst many. The inspiration came in the form of a simple question: what does a tickle look like? The answer was Mr. Tickle, who is now one of more than 90 characters in an ever-growing collection, read in multiple languages in more than 24 countries around the world. Today, the Mr. Men Little Miss characters are illustrated by Roger’s son, Adam, captivating a new generation of fans with each passing decade.
SPECIFICATION | |||||
DENOMINATION | £5 UKP | £1 UKP | £2 UKP | £25 UKP | £100 UKP |
COMPOSITION | CuNi | 0.999 silver | 0.999 silver | 0.9999 gold | 0.9999 gold |
WEIGHT | 28.28 grams | 15.71 grams | 31.21 grams | 7.80 grams | 31.21 grams |
DIMENSIONS | 38.61 mm | 27.0 mm | 38.61 mm | 22.0 mm | 32.69 mm |
FINISH | B/Unc | Proof | Proof/Colour | Proof | Proof |
MINTAGE | Unlimited (15k coloured) | 9,000 | 6,500 | 750 | 275 |
BOX / C.O.A. | Blistercard | Yes / Yes | Yes / Yes | Yes / Yes | Yes / Yes |
R.R.P. | £13.00 (£22.50 coloured) | £65.00 | £97.50 | £605.00 | £2,370.00 |
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