New coin revealed with hidden messages celebrating Cluedo

The Royal Mint has unveiled a new collectible coin celebrating the board game Cluedo.

The 50p coin design includes all six of the game's characters and in a nod to the detective work required of players, it conceals intricate microtext revealed only by a magnifying glass containing their names, locations and weapons.

The Cluedo stage play actress Ellie Leach revealed the design as Miss Scarlett alongside Marcia Lewis, daughter of the iconic board game's creators Anthony and Elva Pratt.

Lewis told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that she was "thrilled" with the new coin, noting it would be "around for generations".

"It'll be kept within families and by collectors and treasured," Lewis, from the Vale of Glamorgan, said.

She said she thought it was "a wonderful tribute" to the game that her parents had created.

The design features Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Reverend Green and Mrs White side by side on top of the coloured character tokens that represent them in the game.

Lewis said her parents created the game during World War Two in their home in Birmingham.

"It was in the evenings because people had to stay indoors after work in blackout conditions because of the constant threat of air raids, and people had time on their hands.

"So I think of it really as my father's lockdown project," she said.

Her mother designed the board and her father created the concept of the game and the rules and the method of play, Lewis said.

But because of material shortages after the war, the game's manufacturers, Waddingtons, later bought by Hasbro, couldn't produce it until very late in 1949.

"So that's when Cluedo first appeared in the shops in quite a sort of understated, modest packaging," Lewis said.

"It's incredible to think that it's part of family life and national culture in probably getting on for 45 countries right across the world," she added.

The game has also been adapted into a stage play starring Leach - previously a Strictly Come Dancing winner - and modern editions of it include Harry Potter, Star Wars and Game of Thrones versions.

Lewis believes part of the game's appeal lies in the fact that it relies on skill, reasoning and deduction, rather than just on luck.

The Royal Mint is also inviting amateur detectives to solve an online competition for a chance to win a solid gold Cluedo 50p coin worth over £2,000.

A new clue will be revealed each week by The Royal Mint, challenging fans to uncover the suspect, the location and the coin type.

Anyone who cracks all three clues will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win the gold coin.

Tim Mulhall from The Royal Mint said Cluedo had captivated millions of players for decades, adding that they had "channelled that spirit of mystery and intrigue into every detail of the design".