New £2 Coin to Commemorate Shakespeare

A set of three £2 coins due to be released this year will feature William Shakespeare’s name and allusions to his plays.

The Royal Mint will introduce the trio into circulation sometime in spring, each one to represent the three genres of Shakespeare’s plays: tragedy, comedy and history.

While the coin depicting a skull and rose represents tragedies such as Macbeth, two other coins featuring a jester hat and a sword in a crown represent the latter genres and are reminiscent of plays such as Much Ado about Nothing and Richard III.

Each coin will also include different edge descriptions with the comedy coin’s description reading, “All the world’s a stage”.

As the only official UK coins to mark the Bard’s 400th death anniversary, the coins are certainly important in commemorating an important part of British history and have generated much excitement on social media.

Users have taken to Twitter to express their love and appreciation of the new designs, describing them to be “hipster” and “magic in your pocket”.

Soon, the coins will be available to buy as a set for £28, ensuring that committed coin collectors or strong fans of Shakespeare can own all three at once.

Other coins released in 2016 will feature Beatrix Potter, the Great Fire of London and the Battle of Hastings.