The Rosalind Franklin 50p – What we know so far…
Did you know that a Rosalind Franklin 50p will be released this year?
The Royal Proclamation from the 12th of March 2020 confirmed that a 50p will be released in 2020 celebrating the life and achievements of British scientist, Rosalind Franklin – and you can now sign up for updates!
The news comes after the worldwide popularity of the 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p, which was the first coin in the Innovators of Science series.
Whilst it hasn’t been confirmed, we can assume the Rosalind Franklin 50p will be the next in the series and we’re sure it’ll spark up chemistry with collectors.
The 50p is said to feature the inscription ‘ROSALIND FRANKLIN DNA’ and ‘PHOTOGRAPH 51’.
Rosalind Franklin was a British chemist and X-Ray crystallographer whose work was central to the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA.
The inscription ‘PHOTOGRAPH 51’ references the x-ray diffraction image of DNA that Raymond Gosling took under the supervision of Franklin. This was the very photo that led Watson and Crick to believe the structure of DNA was a double-helix.
Although all the details have not been released yet and the actual design is still top secret, it seems likely that the Rosalind Franklin 50p coin will be hugely popular with the British public.
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Who else would you like to see featured in the Innovation in Science 50p series? Let us know in the comments below.
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Hi, I think Ed Jenner FRCS would be worthy, as would my university tutor, the late, great Professor Sir David Read FRCS, for his outstanding work in Ecology.
Alan Turing, he was never recognised for his immense contribution to theoretical computer science and algorithms and computation in his own too short lifetime.
He certainly would be a great addition to the Innovation in Science 50p series.
Alan Turing
All comments seem to be about “English” inventors/discoverers. Seems to me the VAST majority of inventions/discoveries came out of Scotland. Not a mention of one.
Hi Robert, which Scottish scientists / inventors would you like to see celebrated on UK coinage? 🙂
How about Hazel Hill the 13 year old girl who did the calculations for the spitfire.
That would be a fantastic addition to the UK commemorative coins 🙂
Sir isaac newton would be a great coin as one of the mot influential scientists of all time.
Hi Andrew, Sir Isaac Newton certainly is one of the most influential scientists of all time, and in 2017 he was celebrated on a brand new 50p. You can find it here: https://www.changechecker.org/coin/182/50p-Sir-Isaac-Newton.aspx
How’s about a Captain Tom coin?
It would be great to see Captain Tom celebrated on a UK coin!
Michael faraday
Adam Lovelace an underated 19th century mathematician who basically designed early modern computer coding and looping almost 200 years ago! She was well ahead of her time.
How about albert Einstein or Alan Turing with the enigma machine on the coin
JOHN SNOW for the cholera cure, anaesthesia, epidemiology. This man should have been immortalised
How about Alan Turing? Surely one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th Century
It would be amazing to see Alan Turing celebrated on a UK coin. He’s certainly very deserving!
Alan Turing will be on the new £50 notes in a couple of years.
Does anyone know if this coin will actually be released into circulation? It will only be hugely popular with the British public if the British public get to see it as opposed to only collectors who can afford to purchase coins.
Hi Caroline,
It hasn’t been confirmed if it will enter circulation yet. It would be great if it did! Do you have the Stephen Hawking 50p in your collection?
Thanks,
Alex
Hi, I think Ed Jenner FRCS would be worthy, as would my university tutor, the late, great Professor Sir David Read FRCS, for his outstanding work in Ecology.
Hi Alex
Yes thank you, I do have the Stephen Hawking 50p coin but like a lot of collectors I’m getting a little fed up of the number of new releases which are not entering circulation.
Hi Caroline,
It is a shame that we haven’t seen many commemorative coins entering circulation but fingers crossed we see some enter soon. Have you registered for our Face Value Coin Ballot? We want to give collectors the chance to own future UK coins for face value.
Simply sign up to the Face Value Ballot and each time there’s a new 50p released in 2020, we’ll select 1,000 people to add the latest coin to their collection for just face value, in superior brilliant uncirculated quality! 500 people will be selected for every 2020 £2 release. You can find more details here: Simply sign up to the Face Value Ballot and each time there’s a new 50p released in 2020, we’ll select 1,000 people to add the latest coin to their collection for face value, in superior brilliant uncirculated quality! 500 people will be selected for every 2020 £2 release.
And remember, we do lots of giveaways on our Facebook page and our Youtube channel, so keep an eye out there.
Thanks,
Alex
Sir Frank Whittle, (born June 1, 1907, Coventry, Warwickshire, England—died August 8, 1996, Columbia, Maryland, U.S.), English aviation engineer and pilot who invented the jet engine. The son of a mechanic, Whittle entered the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a boy apprentice and soon qualified as a pilot at the RAF College
Wow, Sir Whittle sounds like he’d be a great feature on a UK coin!
Barnes Wallace would be good on a 50th with his bouncing bombs .
A 50p coin should be stamped representing Beatrice Shilling.
Beatrice Shilling became an engineer in 1929, a trespasser, at that time, in male territory, having decided in her teens, that this was her vocation.
Her main achievements were technical and mostly to do with aircraft, so the story of her life would be incomplete without some detail of her work as an engineer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.
But there was much more to her than a gift for solving technical problems.
She had a dry sense of humour and total impatience with ceremony that did not always please her superiors.
She was an outstanding motorcycle racer but nearly killed herself racing cars.
Wow, Beatrice Shilling sounds like she would be a brilliant feature for a coin! We’ve got some incredible engineers already on coins, such as Brunel, and also some great racing drivers, like Steve Hislop, so she would be a great addition 🙂
I have collected coins for many years. First for my late husband, then my son, and now I am collecting for 4 of my gt grand children.
What a lovely gift that is to all of your family, Carol 🙂
Please keep me informed, when released I will be buying this 50p coin release
Hi Alan,
If you’d like to be kept updated with the latest Rosalind Franklin 50p news then please sign-up using the form at the bottom of the blog 🙂 Of course, when this coin is released, we will let Change Checkers know ASAP.
Thanks,
Alex
Sir Patrick Moore.