Olympics coin designers go for gold

LONDON (Reuters) - British athletes kicked off a competition on Tuesday looking for creative minds to design millions of 50 pence coins for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The Royal Mint Design Competition was launched in Trafalgar Square by jump champion Jonathan Edwards and five other Olympic and Paralympic medal winners - Giles Long, Karen Pickering, Nick Gillingham, Danny Crates, Ian Rose and Anna Hennings.

Edwards, who won a triple jump gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, said: "This is an amazing opportunity for the whole nation to be part of London 2012 in a lasting, memorable way."

Royal Mint, the oldest coin maker in the world, organised the competition and will produce the Olympic coins.

Its Chief Executive Andrew Stafford said: "We are proud to be involved in this monumental event and to be able to involve the public in the creation of these celebratory coins, which will be found in the nation's change for many years to come."

Judges will select 29 designs showing different Olympic and Paralympic sports. They will be featured on the back of millions of 50 pence pieces from March 2010.

The competition is open to UK residents over the age of 13 and winners will receive 1,000 pounds in cash and a gold coin featuring their design.

Around 769 million 50 pence pieces were estimated to be in circulation in March 2008.

(Reporting by Martina Fuchs, Editing by Peter Griffiths)