UK 50p 2004: 'four-minute-mile' original sketch

[<k>]

From Wikipedia:

In the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile is the act of completing the mile run (1,760 yards, or 1,609.344 metres) in less than four minutes. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

In 2004 the UK issued a 50 pence coin to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first four-minute-mile. Above you see the coin as it was issued. The reverse was designed by the English artist and sculptor James Butler.

[<k>]

Here is James Butler's original sketch.

It included the words: 'THE FOUR MINUTE MILE 1954'.


Accordingly, the stopwatch took up less space on the original sketch.

The text makes the commemorated event more explicit.


There is not much to choose between the original concept and the issued design.

I do narrowly prefer the issued design.

[chrisild]

Thanks for posting that sketch here! Guess that a lot depends on how familiar one is with the "Four Minute Mile" idea. When that coin was issued, I had no idea what it was - well, being a collector, I soon found out.   Now if almost everybody in the UK immediately knows what the scene means, then the explanatory text is superfluous indeed.

Christian