May the coin be with you: Anniversary Star Wars coins unveiled

To celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the release of the third instalment of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VI –__Return of the Jedi, four commemorative coins will be released by the Royal Mint. 

The third film of the original trilogy, starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, was released in 1983.

It is the first time the iconic characters of the original Star Wars trilogy will feature on official UK coins.

The first 50p coin features the iconic characters R2-D2 and C-3PO, and the collection will also feature Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca.

Coin designer Ffion Gwillim has brought the characters to life by working in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company and combining traditional minting techniques with cutting-edge technology. This means that the Royal Mint’s craftspeople have been able to reproduce R2-D2 and C-3PO in vivid colour for the first time on coins. Additionally, each coin in the Star Wars collection will feature a special “lenticular feature” which reveals symbols when tilted in the light, including the Rebel Alliance “Starbird” logo.

Rebecca Morgan, the Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint, siad: “We are delighted to launch an out-of-this-world collection to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”

“We are excited to enthuse new and existing coin collectors across the world, as well as Star Wars’ thriving fan base both in the United Kingdom, and internationally, with the launch of this collection,” she added.

According to The Royal Mint, coin collecting remains Britain’s favourite hobby.

The first coin in the collection will be available to purchase at 9am on the Royal Mint’s website on 10 July. So, if you’re a Star Wars memorabilia fan or an avid coin collector, the Royal Mint website will definitely be worth the R2-Detour.