The UK’s Royal Mint has issued a new 50 pence piece celebrating the father of television.
The new coin celebrates John Logie Baird and is part of the Royal Mint’s Innovation in Science series.
The coin’s design, by commissioned artists Osborne Ross, bares a graphic representation of broadcast transmission, with circular shapes emanating a silhouette of the Crystal Palace mast – the site of Logie Baird’s former television station and transmitter.
The coin also features the a number of milestone moments from the inventor’s life: from his birth in Helensburgh Scotland in 1888, studying electrical engineering at Glasgow’s Royal Technical College in 1926, the first demonstration of analogue television in 1926, the first transatlantic transmission in 1928 and his death in 1946.
It has been created in consultation with Iain Baird, grandson of John Logie Baird, to mark the 75th anniversary year of his grandfather’s passing.
Iain Baird said: “The Baird family feels extremely honoured that The Royal Mint has chosen to recognise my grandfather’s contributions in this way. He was involved in both the technology and the progress of television broadcasting and the coin design illustrates his dual role as a pioneer in the scientific world as well as in a brand-new medium of communication.”
