You can now strike a £2 coin bearing the King’s portrait

People will be able to strike a £2 coin bearing the King’s portrait for the first time.

Visitors to the Royal Mint Experience – where the money nestled in your purse or wallet has likely been created – will soon play their own part in royal history.

Striking a coin refers to pressing an image into the blank metal disc, or planchet.

The term descended from the days when the dies were struck with hammers to deform the metal into the image of the dies.

King Charles will sit on the ‘heads’ side of the £2 coin.

Meanwhile, the ‘tails’ side of the coin, which can be struck from Friday, features a design to celebrate physician Edward Jenner.

The physician pioneered the concept of vaccines.

More than 227,800 coins have already been struck by visitors to the Royal Mint Experience in Llantrisant, South Wales, since it opened in 2016.

Previously, visitors have been able to strike their own memorial coin for Queen Elizabeth II and as well as a Harry Potter 50p.

The Mint said it is the first time visitors can strike a £2 denomination coin featuring Charles’s effigy.

Dan Johnson, visitor attraction manager, said: ‘The change of monarch is such a significant occasion in UK history, and we are delighted to be able to welcome visitors to the Royal Mint Experience and offer them the opportunity to be a part of this momentous historical occasion.’

Visitors will be charged an additional £7.50 to strike their own coin as part of their tour.

The £2 coin celebrating Edward Jenner will also be available to buy from the Royal Mint’s website from January 26.

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