Royal Mint releases special new coin to commemorate 80 years since VE Day

The Royal Mint is releasing special new coins to commemorate 80 years since VE Day, which will be celebrated on May 8, 2025.

VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, is celebrated on 8 May each year to mark the end of the Second World War. The country is set to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE day with street parties as four days of concerts, services and processions were announced - and now, these new coins.

The VE Day 50p coin design features a dove of peace and the coins will be available to buy from the Mint’s website at 9am on Thursday, May 1. The design originally appeared on a 1995 £2, marking 50 years since the end of the Second World War.

These new coins, which will also carry the inscription “In peace goodwill”, will be available in a range of finishes including silver and gold. On 8 May 2025, the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the Mint will also be striking a special gold edition of the coin.

To celebrate the launch of the new coins, the Royal Mint invited guests from the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans to its premises. Veterans Ron Horsey, aged 98, and Richard Pelzer, 101, who are both from Swansea and served with the Royal Engineers, had a behind-the-scenes tour of the manufacturing site in South Wales and were invited to take part in coin striking.

Mr Horsey said: “I’m incredibly proud to have been invited to the Royal Mint to strike this coin. VE Day holds such meaning for me and many others, and to be able to strike this design representing peace on to a coin all these years later is truly moving.

“I hope this coin reminds people of the freedom we enjoy today and the cost at which it came.”

The guests were also met by the Royal Mint’s director of commemorative coins, Rebecca Morgan, and the charity’s vice president, Dick Goodwin, who described the visit as “a wonderful experience”.

The special gold edition coins will be priced at £1,725 and the new 50p coins will be available to buy from the Royal Mint’s website, priced from £14.50 for a brilliant uncirculated version. A 10-coin 80th anniversary of VE Day set will also be available for £1,640.