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Stephen Hawking has been commemorated on a new 50p coin.

The design of the coin is influenced by Prof Hawking's pioneering work on black holes.

Hawking, who was a professor of physics at Cambridge University, died in March last year, and and the coin's release will mark the first anniversary of his passing.

The coin is available to buy from the Royal Mint's website - with prices ranging from £10 for a brilliant uncirculated version of the coin to £795 for a gold proof coin.

(Image: David Parry/PA Wire)

The Royal Mint said: "This work, which used a tentative unification of Einstein's theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics, reported that black holes should not be completely black, instead emitting radiation, meaning they evaporate and eventually disappear."

Tim and Lucy Hawking, son and daughter of Stephen, visited The Royal Mint to mark the coin's release.

Lucy said: "It is a great privilege to be featured on a coin and I hope my father would be pleased to be alongside Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin as scientists who have made it onto money!"

Nicola Howell, the director of consumer at the Royal Mint, also added: "We are very pleased to honour Stephen Hawking on his own coin.

"As one of the world's most brilliant physicists he was a great ambassador for science.

"His popularisation of science and breakthrough work on black holes stand as great achievements and significant contributions to humanity."

Edwina Ellis, who created the design for the coin said: "Stephen Hawking made difficult subjects accessible, engaging and relatable.

"This is what I wanted to portray in my design, which is inspired by a lecture he gave in Chile in 2008.

"Hawking, at his playful best, invites the audience to contemplate peering into a black hole before diving in.

"I wanted to fit a big black hole on the tiny coin and wish he was still here chortling at the thought."

The 76-year-old is most famous for his work in the field of black holes and relativity, on which he wrote several popular books.

This includes his international best-seller, A Brief History of Time.

Hawking was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease while studying at Oxford in his early 20s, but despite being told he only had a few years to live, he defied doctors to reach 76 years of age.

He is one of an elite group of scientists to appear on UK coinage, with Sir Isaac Newton on the 50p in 2017 and Charles Darwin on the £2 in 2009.

As well as featuring on the 50p coin, Hawking is also shortlisted to be the face of the new £50 note, alongside Alan Turing, Ada Lovelace and Margaret Thatcher.

The winner is expected to be announced by the Banknote Character Advisory Committee later this summer, and will replace the current paper note which features industrial revolution pioneers Matthew Boulton and James Watt.

Order the Stephen Hawkins from the Royal Mint website.