150 Years of Liberty London celebrated on a UK £5

By Kate | May 12, 2025 |

For the first time ever, one of London’s most iconic department stores, Liberty, has been celebrated on a UK coin, and you won’t believe how stunning it looks.

Secure the 2025 UK 150 Years of Liberty £5 for your collection >>

150 Years of Liberty

2025 marks 150 years since British merchant Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened his first store, sourcing fabrics, ornaments and trinkets from around the world. Since then, Liberty has gained international acclaim for its unique and trendsetting pieces, and is famed for its directional design, cultural collaborations and inspiring curation.

Liberty London
Image Credit: Oast House Archive, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know? The Tudor style Liberty building was constructed from the timbers of two ancient battle ships – the HMS Impregnable and the HMS Hindustan.

A breath taking design

The reverse design on the 2025 150 Years of Liberty £5 has been created by The Royal Mint and the Liberty design team, and features the famous Liberty building with decorative half-timbering and iconic Mayflower ship weather vane. An elegant floral paisley motif also sweeps across the design, an homage to the bold fabrics Liberty is known for, along with the Liberty logo and the inscription ‘150 YEARS’.

While we’ve seen UK coins celebrate everything from Royal anniversaries to literary legends, this release is truly one-of-a-kind, as it’s the very first time Liberty has appeared on a UK coin.

London landmarks on coins

Liberty isn’t the first iconic London building to feature on a UK coin, in fact we’ve seen a fair few London landmarks on our coins in recent years…

2024 Buckingham Palace £5

One of the most recognisable buildings in the world, Buckingham Palace, has been home to British monarchs since Queen Victoria, and was celebrated on a UK £5 coin in 2024.

Originally issued as part of the 2024 Annual Coin Set and individually issued later that year, the Buckingham Palace £5 features a beautifully detailed depiction of the front of Buckingham Palace with the Royal Standard flying, encircled by a floral ring.

Many a state visit and national celebration have taken place at the Palace, most recently The King’s Coronation celebrations in 2023 and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.

2024 National Gallery £2

Another coin that featured in the 2024 Annual Set was the National Gallery £2, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the gallery.

Originally founded in 1824, the gallery was initially based in financier John Julius Angerstein’s house, until a dedicated building was commissioned to be built in Trafalgar Square in London in 1838.

The iconic gallery building features on this £2 coin along with the inscription ‘200 years of the National Gallery’.

2018 and 2019 Paddington 50ps

Paddington first featured on a UK coin in 2018, when two 50p coins were issued to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Michael Bond’s classic book, A Bear Called Paddington. The beloved bear was seen visiting popular landmarks around London, such as his namesake train station and Buckingham Palace.

Paddington’s tour of London continued when two more Paddington 50ps were issued in 2019. He stopped off at the Tower of London, where he enjoyed a marmalade sandwich, and tipped his hat at St Paul’s Cathedral.