I won! And had to go up in front of the whole school to receive my once-in-a-lifetime prize. I was so nervous.
After the presentation day which was a fantastic day, the following week I went down to the Royal Mint in Wales. I half expected it to be a bit boring, being lectured about coins for a whole day but it was anything but that.
First I went to the design offices, this was fantastically interesting seeing my design being made in to a 3d image on the computer and being sent through to the machines. I learned a lot about how it was done.
We then moved on to the factory section where I was allowed to press not only my coin (the first one) but also a medal for the soldiers in Iraq, which was a very honourable experience.
The methods they use are much simpler than I expected its just two stamps, one with the queens head and one with my design which are pressed together on to a blank 50 pence.
Next was the museum with some very valuable coins, some of which I was allowed to hold. This proved to be very interesting as there was loads of unreleased coins that I got to see, I also saw some very old coins from the medieval times, it's strange that they can survive so long.
That statement, 'it's strange how they can survive so long', is probably the most thrilling feeling I have had from winning this competition. The idea that they will out live many of us and will probably be being found by archaeologists in hundreds of years.
The whole experience was phenomenal and unforgettable. The day I found out I had won I knew my life had changed for ever!
