LONDON — The Royal Mint of Great Britain celebrates the holiday Freddie Mercury with a new coin design celebrating the 40th anniversary of his iconic Live help concert performance.
The coin depicts the Queen frontman with his head thrown back and holding a microphone stand while performing. The musical staff running along the edge of the coin represents his four-octave vocal range.
The first coin was minted by Mercury's sister Kashmira Bulsara at the Royal Mint in Wales last week.
“Because Freddie died young, he never had the chance to be awarded a royal medal for his talents in the world of music. So to receive a royal coin in this way is wonderful and very fitting,” she said.
“The coin perfectly reflects his passion and the joy he brought to millions through his music,” she added. “I think the design is very impressive and they managed to capture Freddie's most iconic pose, which is so recognizable around the world.”
The Royal Mint's director of commemorative coins, Rebecca Morgan, said the timing was perfect to celebrate Mercury with his own coin. She said fans were “screaming” for it and “it seemed like this was the year to do it” because it had been 40 years since he captivated audiences at the 1985 Live Aid concert, which many called the greatest live concert of all time.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Mercury's solo studio album, Mr Bad Guy.
Mercury died at the age of 45 in 1991, just a day after publicly announcing that he had HIV.
The Royal Mint has released special coins to honor other music legends including David Bowie, George Michael, Shirley Bassey and Paul McCartney.
The coins will go on sale on the Royal Mint website on Tuesday. Prices start from £18.50 ($24.4) for the uncirculated £5 version. 2 oz. The proof gold coin is worth £9,350 ($12,315).
The Royal Mint said it would donate the special gold edition of the coin to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity that was founded in memory of the singer and donates funds to those living with AIDS and HIV.
