A new coin featuring Albus Dumbledore and King Charles has been launched as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection from the Royal Mint.
The monarch’s portrait features on the “heads” of the special 50p while the Hogwarts wizard features on the other, in a collection introduced last year to celebrate the 25th publishing anniversary of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.
Two other coins in the collection feature the late Queen.
Prices for the coin featuring Dumbledore range from £11 for an uncirculated 50p and £20 for a colour version to £5,215 for a £200 denomination gold coin.
So far, Harry Potter enthusiasts across 86 countries have bought at least one coin in the range, the Royal Mint said.
Rebecca Morgan, director of collector services, said: “The Royal Mint’s Harry Potter coin collection has seen a popular response among collectors worldwide, not only for the books being a global phenomenon, but due to the collection being one of a small number that will see a change of portrait during the series.
“The 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore marks this change of portrait, with His Majesty King Charles III’s official coin portrait now appearing for the first time in the series.
“This collection of coins serves as a permanent reminder of the fascinating transition from Britain’s longest reigning monarch to His Majesty the King’s first appearance on UK coinage.”
Image: Some of the coins in the collection have a ‘latent feature’, which rotates in the light to reveal a lightning bolt. Pic: The Royal Mint/PA
Actor Richard Harris played Dumbledore in the film version of Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
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Michael Gambon took over the role in the later films following Harris’ death.
The coin is available to buy from the Mint’s website as a 50p denomination version as well as in other denominations.
While other coins in the collection feature Harry Potter himself, the Hogwarts Express, and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Some of the coins in the collection are in colour and some have a “latent feature”, which rotates in the light to reveal a lightning bolt and the number “25” to mark the anniversary year.
The coin series has been created in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing, the Blair Partnership and Warner Bros, Consumer Products.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
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Image: Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.