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50 Pence - Elizabeth II 5th portrait, Alan Turing
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2022 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8 g |
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| Reverse description | The reverse, designed by Matthew Dent and Christian Davies, pays homage to the pioneering work of mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. The central field features an abstract schematic composition evoking a logic or computing diagram, with interlocking circular forms and connecting lines referencing Turing's foundational contributions to theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. To the right, the field is densely inscribed with rows of encrypted alphanumeric characters alluding to the wartime codebreaking work conducted at Bletchley Park, evoking both the Enigma cipher and Turing's Bombe machine. The subject's name, 'ALAN TURING', appears as the principal legend, arranged in a curved arc along the left periphery of the reverse field. |
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| Reverse lettering | ALAN TURING |
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| Additional information |
Released to mark the centenary of Turing's prosecution — he was chemically castrated by the British government in 1952 after conviction for gross indecency, and died two years later in circumstances still debated as suicide or accidental poisoning — this coin sits at an uncomfortable intersection of official commemoration and institutional guilt. The Royal Mint had already issued a Turing 50p in 2021 for the broader centenary of his birth, making this a follow-on release rather than the sole tribute.
Turing's wartime codebreaking at Bletchley Park, particularly his work on breaking the Naval Enigma, is credited with shortening the war by an estimated two years — a figure historians dispute but cite persistently.