Editing Coins of the pound sterling (section)

===2008 redesign{{Anchor|2008 redesign}}{{anchor|Reverse designs (from 2008)}}===
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In 2008, UK coins underwent an extensive redesign which eventually changed the reverse designs of all coins, the first wholesale change to British coinage since the first decimal coins were introduced in April 1968.<ref name="BBC2Apr08Unveil">{{cite news
 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7326491.stm
 |title=Royal Mint unveils coin designs
 |work=BBC News
 |date=2 April 2008
 |access-date=15 September 2009
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625134815/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7326491.stm
 |archive-date=25 June 2009
 |url-status=dead
}}</ref> The major design feature was the introduction of a reverse design shared across six coins (1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p), that can be pieced together to form an image of the [[Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom|Royal Shield]]. This was the first time a coin design had been featured across multiple coins in this way.<ref name=BBC2Apr08Unveil/> To summarize the reverse design changes made in 2008 and afterwards:
* The 1p coin depicts the lower part of the first quarter and the upper part of the third quarter of the shield, showing the lions passant of England and the harp of Ireland respectively
* The 2p coin depicts most of the second quarter of the shield, showing the lion rampant of Scotland
* The 5p coin depicts the centre of the shield, showing the meeting and parts of the constituent parts of the shield
* The 10p coin depicts most of the first quarter of the shield, containing the three lions passant of England
* The 20p coin depicts the lower part of the second quarter and upper part of the fourth quarter, showing the lion rampant of Scotland and the lions passant of England respectively
* The 50p coin depicts the point of the shield and the bottom portions of the second and third quarters showing the harp of Ireland and lions passant of England respectively
* The round, nickel-brass £1 coin from 2008 to 2016 depicted the whole of the Royal Shield. From 2017 it was changed to a bimetallic 12-sided coin depicting a rose, [[leek]], [[thistle]] and [[shamrock]] bound by a crown.
* The £2 coin from 2015 depicts [[Britannia]].

The original intention was to exclude both the £1 and £2 coins from the redesign because they were "relatively new additions" to the coinage, but it was later decided to include a £1 coin with a complete Royal Shield design from 2008 to 2016,<ref>[http://www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/fotnFAQS.aspx New Coin Designs FAQ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406072526/http://www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/fotnFAQS.aspx |date=6 April 2008 }}, Royal Mint</ref> 
and the 2015 redesign of the £2 coin occurred due to complaints over the disappearance of [[Britannia]]'s image from the 50p coin in 2008.<ref>[http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/02/09/birmingham-mp-s-crusade-to-bring-back-britannia-on-coins-65233-22883817/ "Birmingham MP's crusade to bring back Britannia on coins"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408215812/http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/02/09/birmingham-mp-s-crusade-to-bring-back-britannia-on-coins-65233-22883817/ |date=8 April 2009 }}, ''Birmingham Post'', 9 February 2009</ref>

On all coins, the beading (ring of small dots) around the edge of the obverses has been removed. The obverse of the 20p coin has also been amended to incorporate the year, which had been on the reverse of the coin since its introduction in 1982 (giving rise to an unusual issue of a [[mule (coin)|mule]] version [[Twenty pence (British decimal coin)#Dateless coin|without any date at all]]). The orientation of both sides of the 50p coin has been rotated through 180 degrees, meaning the bottom of the coin is now a corner rather than a flat edge. The numerals showing the decimal value of each coin, previously present on all coins except the £1 and £2, have been removed, leaving the values spelled out in words only.

The redesign was the result of a competition launched by the Royal Mint in August 2005, which closed on 14 November 2005. The competition was open to the public and received over 4,000 entries.<ref name=BBC2Apr08Unveil/> The winning entry was unveiled on 2 April 2008, designed by [[Matthew Dent (designer)|Matthew Dent]].<ref name=BBC2Apr08Unveil/> The Royal Mint stated the new designs were "reflecting a twenty-first century Britain". An advisor to the Royal Mint described the new coins as "[[post-modern]]" and said that this was something that could not have been done 50 years previously.<ref name="bulletin107">{{cite journal |journal=Bulletin |title=Your Change is Changing |publisher=Royal Mint |issue=107 |year=2008 |pages=6 |quote=[Stephen Raw said] "We couldn't have had post-modern designs like this 50 years ago – the public simply wouldn't have accepted them }}</ref>

The redesign was criticised by some for having no specifically Welsh symbol (such as the [[Welsh Dragon]]), because the Royal Shield does not include a specifically Welsh symbol. [[Wrexham (UK Parliament constituency)|Wrexham]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) [[Ian Lucas]], who was also campaigning to have the Welsh Dragon included on the [[Union Flag]], called the omission "disappointing", and stated that he would be writing to the Queen to request that the Royal Standard be changed to include Wales.<ref name=DailyPost3Apr08/> The Royal Mint stated that "the Shield of the Royal Arms is symbolic of the whole of the United Kingdom and as such, represents Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland."<ref name="DailyPost3Apr08">[http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/04/03/wales-short-changed-by-new-coin-designs-55578-20711518/ "Wales short-changed by new coin designs"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513054322/http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/04/03/wales-short-changed-by-new-coin-designs-55578-20711518/ |date=13 May 2008 }}, ''Daily Post'' (North Wales), 3 April 2008</ref> Designer Dent stated "I am a Welshman and proud of it, but I never thought about the fact we did not have a dragon or another representation of Wales on the design because as far as I am concerned Wales is represented on the Royal Arms. This was never an issue for me."<ref name=DailyPost3Apr08/>

The Royal Mint's choice of an inexperienced coin designer to produce the new coinage was criticised by [[Virginia Ironside]], daughter of [[Christopher Ironside]] who designed the previous UK coins. She stated that the new designs were "totally unworkable as actual coins", due to the loss of a numerical currency identifier, and the smaller typeface used.<ref name="Independant6Apr08Ironside">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/i-hate-the-new-coins-my-father-must-be-turning-in-his-grave-805135.html |title=I hate the new coins. My father must be turning in his grave |work=[[The Independent]]| author=[[Virginia Ironside|Ironside]], Virginia |date=6 April 2008 |access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref>

The German news magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' claimed that the redesign signalled the UK's intention "[[United Kingdom and the euro|not to join the euro]] any time soon".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=4420 | title=Make Way for Britain's New Coin Designs | access-date=17 May 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714212624/http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=4420 | archive-date=14 July 2011}}</ref>