A sixteen-year-old schoolboy from Halifax has entered the history books today after becoming the first teenager to design a circulating British coin.

Theo Crutchley-Mack entered a nationwide secondary school competition, organised by the Royal Mint, in April 2009, to create a London Olympic Games cycling themed 50p. His design, featuring a rider racing a bike in a Velodrome, beat off huge competition from over 3,000 entries from pupils across the country.

The new cycling design will be found on millions of 50p coins in people's change from autumn this year, when The Royal Mint’s London 2012 50p series goes into general circulation.

Today, Dave Knight, Director of Commemorative Coins at the Royal Mint, officially announced Theo’s win in a surprise assembly at Theo’s school.

To mark the achievement, Theo was presented him with a one off gold ‘strike’ of his design. Commenting on the win, Theo said, "I’m still in shock. I think I need a bit more time for it to sink in. To imagine my coin design is going to be in everyone’s hands is unbelievable."

Dave Knight said: "Theo is passionate about cycling and it showed in his design. The judges were impressed by the sense of speed, drama and excitement he managed to capture in his entry."

Theo’s creation is the second in a series of 29 officially licensed London 2012 50p commemorative coins, designed by members of the public as lasting mementos of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Each coin in the series depicts a different Olympic and Paralympic sport, with the remaining 27 coins to be revealed later in 2010.