The Royal Mint, the official maker of UK coins, recently launched a collectable 50p coin celebrating Raymond Briggs’ iconic picture book The Snowman.

The collectable has been designed by 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 5.5 million 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 Shaw’s sketches, which are inspired by Raymond’s original illustrations.

Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint said: “The Royal Mint is delighted to celebrate the tale of The Snowman on official UK coins for its sixth year in 2023. Continuing our partnership with award-winning illustrator Robin Shaw, we are excited to release another original festive coin that brings Raymond Brigg’s story to life in a new way."

"This year’s edition of The Snowman coin is particularly special, being the first of our Christmas coins with King Charles III’s effigy on its obverse. We hope that people love the coin’s design and look to collect a piece of British Christmas history,"  Morgan said.

Speaking about the design, award-winning animator and illustrator Robin Shaw said: “I am thrilled to enter my sixth year working with The Royal Mint, helping to bring Raymond Briggs' classic winter’s tale to life for collectors and fans of the story alike.”

This is the sixth collectable Snowman coin released by The Royal Mint in collaboration with Snowman Enterprises Ltd and officially licensed by Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House UK), with the first coin released in 2018.