1. The coin's design is sketched out in the Royal Mint studio.
2. Coin designers then turn the designs into a special computer model, which is used to make the 'dies' – the tools used to stamp the design onto the coin.
3. Each die is polished by hand and struck up to six times to make sure every detail is perfect. The very precise machines at The Royal Mint mean that the coins can be very intricately designed.
4. Next, the three types of commemorative coin are struck: Proof, Brilliant Uncirculated and Bullion. Proofs are the highest standard of commemorative coin, then Brilliant Uncirculated coins and finally Bullion coins, which are a similar standard of finish to circulating coins.
A 50p coin issued by the Royal Mint last year featuring Raymond Briggs creation The Snowman, to celebrate 40 years since the publication of the timeless classic
Historically these coins were required in order to check the
