Anthony Smith (m.2002, Natural Sciences), creator of the College's 'Darwin the Student' sculpture has been commissioned by the Royal Mint to design a new £2 coin marking the 350th anniversary of the first striking of the Guinea Coin.

Anthony, (who recently created a bust of Christ's alumnus and benefactor Yusuf Hamied) said "The guinea has a long, fascinating history, but rather than crowd together various elements to tell the story, I thought that one guinea should speak for all. I studied all of the guineas minted under each of the seven monarchs and the guinea that struck me as the most iconic was undoubtedly the Spade Guinea – with its strong and distinctive rendering of the Royal Arms, it is this crowned shield which forms the central element of my design.”

“It was important for me to include the word ‘golden’ in reference to the fact that the guinea was only ever struck in gold, and in reference to the coin’s long history I have encircled the central ‘spade’ with a ring of 150 dots, one for each of the 150 years during which the guinea was minted.”

The Royal Mint will launch the Silver Proof, Silver Piedfort and Gold Proof Coins in June 2013.