The Royal Mint has kicked off its latest commemorative coin collection featuring characters from children’s books, with the launch of a £5 piece picturing Mr Happy from the Mr Men and Little Miss series.

Struck to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the series of more than 50 books, first published in August 1971, the three-piece collection will also feature Little Miss Sunshine, Mr Strong and Little Miss Giggles.

The announcement of the set, which will not be circulated, and release of the first coin comes just a day after the 50th anniversary of ‘decimal day’, when the UK’s coinage was reorganised into the system we recognise now.

The £5 coin featuring Mr Happy is released just a day after Britain's decimal coin system turns 50 years old. The first Mr Men book was published in August 1971

The £5 coin featuring Mr Happy is released just a day after Britain's decimal coin system turns 50 years old. The first Mr Men book was published in August 1971

The £5 coin featuring Mr Happy is released just a day after Britain’s decimal coin system turns 50 years old. The first Mr Men book was published in August 1971

The designs of the three coins have been created in partnership with Adam Hargreaves, who took over the popular children’s book series after the death of his father, Roger, in 1988.

The elder Mr Hargreaves produced 39 Mr Men character throughout the 1970s, beginning with Mr Tickle and finishing with Mr Slow in October 1978. 

He started the Little Miss series in September 1981, with Little Miss Bossy, and between then and February 1984 created 21 characters.

Mr Happy was the third in the series to be created, after Mr Tickle and Mr Greedy. 

Although Mr Tickle will not feature on a coin, 50 special golden tickets featuring him will be hidden among 15,000 coloured £5 Mr Happy coins, which will go on sale for £22.50.

The one in every 300 collectors lucky enough to get their hands on one will win a Mr Men and Little Miss prize bundle, the Royal Mint said.

Coins featuring Little Miss Sunshine and Mr Strong and Little Miss Giggles are also set to be released as part of the commemorative series

Coins featuring Little Miss Sunshine and Mr Strong and Little Miss Giggles are also set to be released as part of the commemorative series

Coins featuring Little Miss Sunshine and Mr Strong and Little Miss Giggles are also set to be released as part of the commemorative series

Adam Hargreaves 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 among 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.’

Brilliant uncirculated, coloured, silver and gold proof versions of the coin of various denominations and weights will be sold by the Mint, with prices ranging from £13 all the way up to £2,370. 

The costliest is the one ounce, or 31.21g, gold proof £100 coin. Just 275 will be available.

Adam Hargreaves, son of Mr Men and Little Miss creator Roger, helped create the new designs

Adam Hargreaves, son of Mr Men and Little Miss creator Roger, helped create the new designs

Adam Hargreaves, son of Mr Men and Little Miss creator Roger, helped create the new designs 

How many Mr Happy coins will be released? 
£5 Brilliant Uncirculated coin   £5 BU coloured coin Half-ounce Silver Proof coin  One ounce Silver Proof coin  Quarter-ounce Gold Proof coin  One ounce Gold Proof coin 
Denomination  £5  £5  £1  £2  £25  £100 
How many available  Unlimited  15,000  9,000  6,500  750  275 
Price £13 £22.50  £65  £97.50  £605  £2,370 
Source: Royal Mint 

The series of three coins is the latest commemorative collection featuring characters from popular children’s books, following in the footsteps of the likes of Peter Rabbit and the Gruffalo. 

The Mint also released a three-coin series featuring Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and Piglet late last year.

But while coins from the Beatrix Potter series have become popular among collectors after they were released into circulation over the last few years, the latest news will leave those numismatists unhappy, with no plans to release the Mr Men coins into circulation.

Worth some serious marmalade? Probably not 

The Royal Mint recently revealed its latest mintage figures for circulating coins released in 2019. The figures are closely watched by coin collectors as they offer an indication as to whether a particular coin will be worth serious money.

For example, the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p saw its value skyrocket after it was revealed only 210,000 were minted.

This coin features Paddington eating a marmalade sandwich outside the Tower of London

This coin features Paddington eating a marmalade sandwich outside the Tower of London

The Peruvian bear doffing his hat outside St Paul's Cathedral in London

The Peruvian bear doffing his hat outside St Paul's Cathedral in London

In 2019 the Mint released two more coins featuring Paddington Bear into circulation. Both had a mintage of just over 9m

With that in mind, collectors are likely to be disappointed by the news that neither of the 2019 Paddington Bear 50p coins put into circulation by the Royal Mint are especially rare.

The two coins, displaying the Peruvian bear outside the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, both had a mintage of just over 9million, close to 43 times that of the Kew Gardens 50p.

The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p remains top of website Change Checker's

The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p remains top of website Change Checker's

The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p remains top of website Change Checker’s 

The rarest of the four coins created to commemorate Paddington, two of which were released the year before, is the one of him at the station of the same name. 

That has a mintage of just over 5million, but this still does not make it particularly rare.

The rarest 50p from the Beatrix Potter collection, the 2018 Peter Rabbit 50p, for example, had a mintage of just 1.4million. 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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