The "2026 Aardman Animations 50th Anniversary Proof Gold/Silver Coin" went on sale on June 9, 2026 (Tuesday). The coin is available through Coin Palace, the official authorized dealer for the Royal Mint in Japan.
Product Overview
Source: Aardman Animations headquarters, by yellow book / CC BY-SA 2.0
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Aardman Animations is a British animation studio based in Bristol, founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. The studio takes its name from the superhero "Aardman" from the BBC programme Vision On, and pioneered the lip-sync technique of recording voice actors first and then matching puppet mouth movements to the pre-recorded audio, establishing its own distinct animation style.
Aardman is particularly well known for its clay animation — a form of stop-motion animation using clay models — and characters such as Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit have become widely recognized in Japan.
Nick Park's Wallace & Gromit notably won all 10 categories at the 33rd Annie Awards and took the Best Animated Feature Film award at the 78th Academy Awards, with Aardman's works consistently earning critical acclaim, cementing the studio's reputation as one of Britain's most celebrated entertainment names.
The coin brings together some of Aardman's most beloved characters in a single design. On the reverse, five characters peek out from the gaps in the star symbol used in the Aardman logo — from the top and going clockwise: Morph, Feathers McGraw, Gromit, Wallace, and Shaun the Sheep — each looking out with warm, cheerful expressions.
The design was created by Aardman themselves rather than the Royal Mint's in-house designers, making it a piece that truly reflects the team's affection for these iconic characters.
The obverse features a portrait of King Charles III by Royal Mint designer Martin Jennings.
Two versions are available: a color silver coin and a gold coin. Both can be viewed on the Coin Palace online shop.
