Artist wins contest to design 50p Olympic judo coin

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An artist from Sussex who has engraved portraits of the Queen for Royal Mint coins has had his design of a judo throw turned into a 50p piece.

David Cornell, from Bexhill, beat off thousands of entrants in the competition to find designs for 29 sports to mark the 2012 Olympic Games.

His design is in circulation and could be used for the next 30 years.

He has already designed more than 4,000 coins, including Princess Diana's memorial coin.

"It's much more difficult now because the relief is very low," he said.

"Obviously for economical reasons they use less metal and the coins are getting smaller."

Mr Cornell designed the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle statue in Crowborough and has also worked with Pablo Picasso.