A scientist is due to be chosen for the prestigious £50 note portrait this year, and Hawking would be a fine and hugely popular choice, but there's a lot of political pressure for it to be a woman, so I suspect this has conveniently removed him from the running.
I think it was probably too early for Hawking on the £50 anyway - it's more for historical figures. I can't be bothered to check but I think Churchill is the most recently alive person to ever be featured.
I know they have to be dead to be considered but I think it stinks that Sophie Wilson never gets much of a mention anywhere near the public sphere despite the immensely broad reach of her work.
There are better choices for a historical scientist, such as Newton, Darwin, Bacon or Dalton. Hawking was popular in the niche circles but it's safe to assume that many people, even in the UK, would be unfamiliar with him. And shoehorning an obscure woman scientist in there just because she's female is an insult to the achievements all the women who excel in science and other fields.
Why would he be disqualified, and why is there pressure to choose a woman? That seems like a bad thing to do to a man who made such contributions to science.
Edit: Anyone care to comment on why you killed this?
Anyone else find the illustration a bit lacking - it's like a 70s album cover (not a terrible thing) - but it doesn't scream blackhole at me. Writing his name seems a bit low rent too, the best coinage is a bit more subtle IMO.
The illustration tries to visualize a (gravitational) potential by equitorial lines, and to cut where the event horizon is in Schwarzschild coordinates. Such an illustration is probably an honour to Karl Schwarzschild (the guy who first solved Einstein's general relativistic field equations) but not to Hawking, who got famous for making first predictions how quantum matter interacts with general relativistic spacetimes, i.e. black holes.
It's only the equation which displays the definition of Bekenstein-Hawking entropy which is connected to Hawking.
I'm not an expert in designing coins, but I feel this is not the best way to visualize Hawkings impact on science.
I completely see where you're coming from with regards to 70s album cover and the printing of his name.
I still quite like the design though and I suspect it would look a lot more tasteful when seen on the coin itself rather than viewed online (which might have had the images contrast turned up to make the dips and peaks of the pressing more visible)
Newton didn’t appear either. While scientists portraits have appeared on notes, the mint avoids portraits on coins - and instead goes for a depiction of the work itself.
Darwin is the only exception I can think of, probably because by depicting him and a chimp, you are actually depicting the work.
So is this a commemorative essentially non-circulating coin or do things like this get spent normally in the UK? I'm not familiar with Royal Mint commemoratives.
In the US, the mint releases a lot of commemorative coins that ostensibly and legally have a face value, but in fact will never be used as money. Contrasting with that are the state and national park quarters, which mostly circulate normally.
Many people "collect" the commemorative 50p coins, possibly in the same way people collected the state quarters in the USA. There are one or two released every year[1], and the number varies.
People seem to avoid spending them for a little while, show someone if it's one they've not seen before, and perhaps put them aside at home, but eventually spend them again.
Yeah, the article was light on details. They said you could buy an uncirculated coin for 10 pounds, which led me to believe some would ALSO be circulated, but it would have been nice information for them to include :)
If this were judged on scientific merit alone, and not the fact of being known to the public, Hawking would have never have made this. Does he compare to a James Clerk Maxwell? To a Francis Bacon?
If you just want the coin (rather than the coin in a presentation pack) it might be easiest to buy it from eBay (local or UK) or a coin collecting website.
Wow the illustration looks really cool! Hopefully I can pick up a couple of these on my next trip to the UK (If the Brexit doesn't go through completely :) )
[+] [-] hanoz|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] irb|7 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] Angostura|7 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] nukeop|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mises|7 years ago|reply
Edit: Anyone care to comment on why you killed this?
[+] [-] pbhjpbhj|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ktpsns|7 years ago|reply
It's only the equation which displays the definition of Bekenstein-Hawking entropy which is connected to Hawking.
I'm not an expert in designing coins, but I feel this is not the best way to visualize Hawkings impact on science.
[+] [-] laumars|7 years ago|reply
I still quite like the design though and I suspect it would look a lot more tasteful when seen on the coin itself rather than viewed online (which might have had the images contrast turned up to make the dips and peaks of the pressing more visible)
[+] [-] black-tea|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oneeyedpigeon|7 years ago|reply
He's ... not really 'appearing' though, is he? His name is. Why no illustration of the great man himself?
[+] [-] Angostura|7 years ago|reply
Darwin is the only exception I can think of, probably because by depicting him and a chimp, you are actually depicting the work.
[+] [-] Moru|7 years ago|reply
"Prof Hawking has also been suggested as the new face of the £50 banknote, which will feature a scientist. A decision will be made in the summer."
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] acheron|7 years ago|reply
In the US, the mint releases a lot of commemorative coins that ostensibly and legally have a face value, but in fact will never be used as money. Contrasting with that are the state and national park quarters, which mostly circulate normally.
[+] [-] irb|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DanBC|7 years ago|reply
Some people collect them by getting bulk change from their banks and searching through. Here's a youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrLpq9u90Ls
You get to see from this video that there are a load of these coins in the UK.
[+] [-] Symbiote|7 years ago|reply
People seem to avoid spending them for a little while, show someone if it's one they've not seen before, and perhaps put them aside at home, but eventually spend them again.
[1] https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/coin-design-and-...
[+] [-] rconti|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Insanity|7 years ago|reply
This is a nice way to commemorate him!
[+] [-] nanna|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eatbitseveryday|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] voltagex_|7 years ago|reply
Edit: https://www.royalmint.com but it's going to cost me... a lot.
[+] [-] Symbiote|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nanna|7 years ago|reply
How long before Tim Berners-Lee gets on a British banknote or coin?
Will this happen before or after Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, or Turing?
And will Donald Davies ever get his recognition?
And will physical money even still exist by this point?
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