COINS celebrating the 50th anniversary of Mr Men and Little Miss characters, created by Cleckheaton-born Roger Hargreaves, have been released by the Royal Mint.

The commemorative coin collection features Mr Happy, Little Miss Sunshine, and Little Miss Giggles with Mr Strong, with designs by Roger's son, Adam Hargreaves.

Uncirculated versions of the coins featuring the latest colour printing techniques showcase the characters in vivid colour. Prices for the coins, available on the Royal Mint’s website, start at £13 for an uncirculated £5 denomination coin. A 1oz gold proof coin in a denomination of £100 is £2,370. The Royal Mint will be hiding 50 “golden Mr Tickle tickets” among all three colour commemorative coins. Those finding the tickets can claim Mr Men and Little Miss prize bundles.

Clare Maclennan of the Royal Mint, said: “Each year we celebrate British icons, anniversaries and moments from history on commemorative coins, and this is a fun new addition. With this year marking the 50th anniversary since the Mr Men Little Miss characters were introduced to the world, it felt right to celebrate the loveable characters on their own coins.”

Roger Hargreaves was born in a Cleckheaton hospital and grew up at Hartshead Moor, where there is a commemorative plaque. He worked for his father's laundry business before going into advertising. In 1971 he wrote the first Mr Men book, Mr. Tickle, inspired by six-year-old Adam's question: "What does a tickle look like?"

The Mr Men books - simple, fun stories with brightly coloured, boldly drawn illustrations - were an instant success, selling over a million copies in three years, and turned into an animated TV series, narrated by Arthur Lowe. In 1981 the Little Miss books were launched.

The Mr Men Little Miss books and their world of "happyland" became a global hit, with more than 90 characters in the collection, read in multiple languages in more than 24 countries. Today the characters are illustrated by Adam Hargreaves. He said: “It is an absolute honour to not only have the Mr Men Little Miss characters feature on official UK commemorative coins but to have the opportunity to create the designs that feature on the coins too.

“I am delighted to be celebrating 50 years of fun with the Royal Mint and I hope fans of the Mr Men Little Miss series will be just as thrilled with this commemorative coin collection as I am.”

The coins are available for sale only and will not be going into general circulation. The first to be released is the Mr Happy coin.