London 2012 coin design success for Midlands' designers

Two official £5 coins for London 2012 have been designed by a graduate from Worcestershire and a Birmingham student.

Saiman Miah, a masters student at Birmingham School of Architecture, has created a coin to mark the Olympics.

Hereford College of Arts graduate Pippa Sanderson, from Malvern, has designed one for the Paralympics.

They are being produced by the Royal Mint after a competition for students to design a commemorative coin.

Mr Miah said his love of architecture had influenced his design for the Olympic coin, which includes a sweep of London's skyline and pictograms of athletes running around the edge.

The 24-year-old said: "London 2012 is very contemporary so I have merged the old and new together with the classic London landmarks such as Big Ben and St Paul's with the pictograms of the Olympic sports on the outer edge.

"I am very proud to be involved in both Olympic and British legacy."

The design of the Paralympic coin features a wheel, a target and a stopwatch to celebrate manoeuvrability, accuracy and speed.

Ms Sanderson said: "My design idea came from the concept of rings and what they mean, from the track at the Olympic stadium to the Olympic rings."

The coins, which are the latest in a summer Olympic tradition dating back to the 1952 Helsinki Games, will go on sale later this month.