A new 50p coin featuring the Hogwarts Express has been launched to celebrate 25 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published.
It will be the final collectable 50p to feature a portrait of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II portrait on its reverse.
Customers can secure all four coins in the collection at once from The Royal Mint’s website here.
The collection will include four coins in total - the first two of which will feature a portrait of the late Queen, while the last two coins will feature the official portrait of King Charles III.
Harry Potter fans will have four different designs to choose from.
This includes a Harry Potter coin, the Hogwarts Express coin, a coin featuring Professor Dumbledore and one featuring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Each design will show scenes and characters, in colour, from the first book in the series illustrated by Jim Kay.
Jim Kay, illustrator and designer of the Harry Potter coin collection said: “It hasn’t really sunk in yet.
"It is the same for most aspects of publishing – because you are on your own all of the time in a studio, none of it quite seems real until you see the book on a shelf in a shop.
“Then you think ‘oh yeah! I did that!’ This is completely new to me though, a coin!”
Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint said: “The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter collection presents a unique opportunity for collectors and fans of Harry Potter across the world.
“A change in portrait makes this collection a highly sought after one. For 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait has appeared on every official UK coin struck by The Royal Mint.
“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 coins.”
The Hogwarts Express collectable coin will make up part of a larger Harry Potter collection created in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing, The Blair Partnership and Warner Bros, Consumer Products.
Many of the coins in the range will also feature an enchanting ‘latent feature’ which, when rotated in the light, reveals a lightning bolt and the number ‘25’ to mark the anniversary year.
Mandy Archer, Editorial Director at Bloomsbury Children’s Books said, “We are delighted to see the latest coin in The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter collection.
“Jim Kay’s evocation of the Hogwarts Express instantly whisks you away to platform nine and three-quarters – the very start of Harry’s magical journey. It’s a joy to see his stunning book illustration so skilfully and beautifully rendered on a new silver anniversary coin.”
The new Harry Potter 50p coins can be purchased here.
