asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why the depiction of Britannia has been removed from the new 50 pence coin. [HL2941]

On 2 April 2008, the Royal Mint publicly announced a redesign of all UK coinage from the 1 pence to the £1 coin by a British designer. This was following a public competition, which was launched in August 2005 and closed in November 2005. The competition received a record response with over 4,000 entries. Many of the current set of reverses were first introduced in April 1968. The last time that a set of reverses has lasted so long was in Queen Victoria's reign, when some coins displayed the same reverse for 50 years before being redesigned in 1887. The new designs take a traditional theme and treat it in an innovative and contemporary manner. The new coins will circulate alongside the almost 28 billion currently circulating coins, including more than 800 million 50p coins depicting Britannia.