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Coinage (Measurement) Bill

I am sure that the Royal Mint advisory committee will have listened to my hon. Friend's comments with interest. As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, the Royal Mint changes the themes of its coins from time to time, which is one of the interesting things about UK coinage. Doubtless, it will want to take on board his suggestion. Today our focus is not only on the Mint's industrial and commercial achievements, but on its services to the promotion and celebration of British sport. From the 50p sports series, to the Celebration of Britain coins, to the Faster, Higher, Stronger gold sovereigns, the Royal Mint has a wide-ranging Olympic coin programme that caters for children, sports fans and professional coin collectors alike. We are concerned today with allowing the production of coins that will be of great interest to professional collectors and others. As my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North, very large coins have become a part of many countries' commemorative coin offerings. My hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) expressed concern about a slot machine big enough to take a 1 kg coin. He would probably have even greater concerns for the Canadian Royal Mint, which produced a 100 kg fine gold coin with a face value of 1 million Canadian dollars. Different countries take different approaches. The French Monnaie de Paris produced a glamorous diamond-studded gold coin. Those coins are, of course, exclusive products for a limited number of customers. That does not mean that the proposal before us is not worth while. Although the Bill that my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North is promoting is intended to help the Mint to create kilo coins for the 2012 Olympics, it will also allow coins of that size to be struck for other significant events in future. It is important to do all we can to create a level playing field on which the Royal Mint can compete, appealing to collectors worldwide, even at the top end of the market. However, the Olympic coin programme has been designed to ensure the widest possible levels of participation. Coins of many denominations will be produced, providing an accessible opportunity for those just starting their collections to own a commemorative Olympic coin for as little as £2.99. That is one of the reasons why it was fantastic that ““Blue Peter”” was able to be part of the design process. I shall come to that in a moment. The non-numismatists will not miss out; we all, I hope, look forward to seeing Olympic coins in our pockets as they enter general circulation between now and 2012, and we will have them as a reminder of a fantastic event long after our games have finished. I am happy to report that the Royal Mint has opened up the design process to a wider group than ever before. Design competitions have been organised by ““Blue Peter””. Designs have been submitted by countless secondary school children, art and design colleges, and members of the public. Although not all the results of the contests have been decided, I remind the House of one further competition winner—the Royal Mint. Following a competitive tender procedure, the Royal Mint has, as we heard, secured the honour of producing our Olympic and Paralympic medals. That further cements the important relationship between the London 2012 Olympics and our world-class export Mint. I urge hon. Members across the House to take a look through the brochure that the Royal Mint has produced, showing the 50p coin collection that will be issued. There are some wonderful designs. My personal favourite is No. 12, the athletics 50p, which is the one designed by ““Blue Peter”” viewers. It is brilliant. It will make everybody who sees it and uses it over the coming years smile every time they fish it out of their wallet or purse. We all want the 2012 games to be a resounding success. I, like my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North, have strong constituency ties to the Olympics. Those include potential Olympians such as Jessica Harper, who has been identified as a future champion by British Swimming's disability swimming section. Locally, Southfields underground station will be a key Olympic gateway for people to get to the All England club, where the Olympic tennis events are to be held. We are delighted in my constituency that last year it became the 60th station to be step-free. We will have the experience of one of the Olympic events just down the road from us. We are used to having Wimbledon every year, but June and July 2012 will be even busier than we are used to. I am delighted that during the rest of the year Southfields station will be accessible to all of my constituents in a way that it just was not before, and there have been further improvements to make it safer and easier to use. The Olympics are fantastic for our country and we must make the most of the opportunities that they bring. The Bill is part of enabling us to do that—enabling the Royal Mint to be part of the process.