The Royal Mint are set to issue a commemorative 50 pence piece that will celebrate the life of Stephen Hawking, who died in March 2018.
The British scientist is set to become just the third person in British History to have been commemorated with a coin just one year after their death. The first two are former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother.
The 50p coin will depict a black hole, with STEPHEN HAWKING stamped around the edges.
Royal Mint, the company that produces coins for the United Kingdom, are yet to issue a release date for the coin. However, Coin Hunter believes that the coin could be released as soon as March 14.
The release would coincide with the anniversary of his death, caused by motor neurone disease which he was diagnosed with at 21. Hawking was originally given just two years to live by doctors but he completely defied the odds living to the age of 76.
The physicist was best known for his research on Black Holes, with his non-fiction book A Brief History of Time rocketing Hawking to stardom. It stayed on the Sunday Times bestsellers list for 237 weeks, selling 10 million copies and being translated into 40 different languages, according to The Guardian.
In the book he talks about the origin, development and eventual fate of the universe. His descriptions of the Big Bang, black holes and general relativity. As well as being a physicist and cosmologist, he was also the director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.
Royal Mint is yet to announce whether the 50 pence pieces will be released into general circulation. If they aren’t, they could be specifically made as a collectors item with inflated value.
No matter the number of coins made, it’s good to see the influential physicist being celebrated. He joins Sir Isaac Newton who has also been celebrated on a Royal Mint coin.
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Matt Weston is a lover of electric cars, artificial intelligence and space. From Cornwall, he’s a UCLan graduate that still dreams of being a Formula One driver in the very near future. Previously work includes reporting for regional newspapers and freelance video for the International Business Times.