When I first heard that The Royal Mint were planning to release a coin honouring Mahatma Gandhi I thought what a lovely idea it was. After all, he was a pretty inspirational person and one of the greatest men of peace to have walked the Earth.
{ The face that deserved to be on the coin }
When I first saw what the new ‘Gandhi’ £5 coin actually looked like my heart sank. Once the disappointment had subsided the disbelief kicked in. The man had such a brilliant face to go on the back of a coin…. yet the designer had chosen not to use this. Mahatma’s face always looked so full of kindness and love. His face was also interesting from an artist’s perspective. Weathered and wise with so very much to capture in a portrait. Yet Heena Glover chose to ‘represent’ all of this with a very bland and basic line drawing of a lotus flower instead.
‘Weathered and wise with so very much to capture in a portrait’
Perhaps it is just me and I am being overly harsh. But I don’t think so. Other people I have discussed it with seem to feel the same; that this was a golden opportunity to create and issue a truly beautiful coin to celebrate the life and contribution of a very special person indeed.
Specifications :
£5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin –
Alloy – Cupro-Nickel
Diameter – 38.61mm
Weight – 28.28g
Mintage – Unlimited*
Obverse Designer – Jody Clark
Reverse Designer – Heena Glover
One Ounce Silver Proof Coin –
Alloy – 999 Ag
Diameter – 38.61mm
Weight – 31.21g
Mintage – 2,510*
Obverse Designer – Jody Clark
Reverse Designer – Heena Glover
One Ounce Gold Proof Coin –
Alloy – 999.9 Au
Diameter – 32.69mm
Weight – 31.21g
Mintage – 185*
Obverse Designer – Jody Clark
Reverse Designer – Heena Glover
*All mintages quoted are MCM (Maximum Coin Mintage). This means this is the most coins that may be issued. Ultimately, it is down to The Royal Mint to decide how many are minted so the reality is that each number given may turn out to be lower.
© Article and images (except where stated) copyright Mik Smith 2022
