The Royal Mint has released a new coin to celebrate the scientific achievements of the legendary Stephen Hawking who passed away last year after a life rich of scientific and academic achievements. Named "the black hole" after his famous theory, the coin was released last week and is currently available in the market.

A physicist, cosmologist, and former director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, Professor Hawking has made great scientific achievements on the basic laws governing the universe. He found that the general theory of relativity of Einstein would have a beginning in the Big Bang and black holes.

Hawking's children expressed their happiness at the issuance of the coin to celebrate their father's achievements and were present at the Royal Mint when the coins were unveiled.

The coin comes in silver proof, gold proof, and piedfort. The Royal Mint says that the launch of the coin was very popular and traffic at their site has been very high, making it hard to cope with the demand.

The collector's version of the coin is selling online for 10 pounds.

Source: agencies, Royal Mint