British artist Quentin Devine used 1,952 pence pieces to make a Royal Mint coin to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Quentin was commissioned by the coin makers to design a unique souvenir portrait to celebrate Elizabeth II becoming the longest reigning monarch on Wednesday (09.09.15) and was "very pleased" to be given the task.
He said: "I was very pleased to be asked to produce this piece. I had made coin art in the past, but not to this scale."
He was first asked to use as many coins as he could but decided it would be more appropriate and more significant to have 1,952 because it is the year she was crowned Queen of England.
He told getSurrey.co.uk: "Initially I was asked to use many more coins but after I made a few calculations I recommended using 1,952 to represent the year she became Queen and to keep the artwork more manageable and the Royal Mint liked the idea."
The creative process itself took less than a week, three layers of paint and most the time was spent glueing the money onto wood.
He said: "It took me just under a week to make.
"I had to cut the wood to size, then give it three coats of paint, which gave me time to plan.
"Copper coins come in a variety of colours and I had to work out how many of each tone I would need.
"It took about three-and-a-half days to glue the coins down. It was a slow process, as I had to be very precise."
The artist was really "pleased" with how it turned out and felt proud when Royal Mint said they were "delighted" with his craftwork.
He added: "I’m so pleased at how it turned out and it was an honour to work with such an established organisation.
"The Royal Mint actually told me they were delighted with the final ‘masterpiece’."
The special coin will be displayed at the Royal Mint’s new visitor centre in Llantrisant South Wales, which is opening in 2016.
Royal Mint celebrate Queen’s reign with coin
