If you haven’t already seen the new coinage, you are in for a treat.

Matthew Dent, a graphic designer who won the competition to do the first major redesign of the full collection of UK coins since decimalisation in 1971, has come up with a delicious and contemporary new look.

There is something very solid about the coin, and this is a rare opportunity to make a very significant impact with design. I would describe British currency as a design classic in itself (not discounting some of the other great coins I’ve seen around the globe), and would place it in a similar camp to stamps in terms of distribution and gravitas. It’s funny to reflect on this, but I suspect if you ask many people what makes them British or gives them British identity, apart from drizzle, tea and Nectar points, the queen’s head on our coins would probably surface more than a handful of times.

That’s why this redesign was very important, and I’m pleased to see something that really can be commended on all fronts.

The outlines and weights have been retained, a sensible idea. The reduction in the size and weight of the 10 pence, 5 pence and 50 pence pieces in the past 15 years have made our coinage fairly manageable, and when making such a dramatic change to the faces, it seems only suitable to retain this major identifier.

Secondly and most importantly for me, the cut of the design is beautiful. Even someone who shifts pixels for a career, I can only begin to imagine how much agony went into getting the design and typography ‘just’. I’m so pleased they have spaced the design out as much as they have, it defies the obvious wonderfully.

The subject matter (the royal heraldic shield) cleverly ties up the problem of finding a separate identifier for each coin. In a time when there is so much debate about what truly justifies itself as being british or inclusive or whatever, it seems far better to use a symbol that is both recognised and less contentious than some other icons. I’m not saying there aren’t connotations, but I think this is a good way to go, and assuming we don’t become a republic in the next 40 years they should last too…

I’m interested to know what will be printed on the circumferences, but really I’m keen just to see them minted. Stacking coins will never be so boring again.

One slight question that still remains is whether completely removing the numerical value from the coin face will work. I’ve been to many places and it’s usually been the one sure-fire constant. On the other hand, maybe it couldn’t be a stronger representation of the British need to assert ourselves by requiring the user to understand English in order to purchase even the cheapest items…