The Royal Mint is unleashing a set of Harry Potter coins that will feature both portraits of the Queen and new King.

Collectors are set to have their wands at the ready to get their hands on the collection, which is expected to be in high demand because of the change of portrait halfway through the release.

The unique range - designed to mark the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone written by J.K Rowling - begins its release today and will include a range of collectable coins including an official new UK 50p.

The first two coins will feature the portrait of Her Late Majesty and will be released in two stages this year, and the final two coins in the series will feature the official portrait of King Charles III. These will be available in 2023.

An effigy of the late Queen was also on BBC centenary coins released earlier this month, as the coins had already been struck prior to her death in September, and a decision was taken to keep them and release them as planned in order to save waste.

Harry Potter himself is on the first coin in the series, which is now available to buy, while others will feature The Hogwarts Express, Albus Dumbledore and later - The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizard.

The coins feature the work of Jim Kay, the artist who created the first fully illustrated edition of the Harry Potter story.

Combining traditional minting techniques with technology, The Royal Mint’s craftspeople have reproduced his illustrations in colour for the first time on the collectable coins. Many of the coins - says the Royal Mint - will also have a ‘latent feature’ which rotates in the light to reveal a lightning bolt and the number ‘25’ to mark the anniversary year.

Jim Kay said: "It hasn’t really sunk in yet. It is the same for most aspects of publishing – because you are on your own all of the time in a studio, none of it quite seems real until you see the book on a shelf in a shop. Then you think ‘oh yeah! I did that!’

"This is completely new to me though, a coin!"

All the commemorative coins will be available to buy through the Royal Mint website as they are released - starting this week with Harry himself - and prices start from £11 through to more than £1,000 for a 'gold proof' 50p coin.

Ffion Gwillim, The Royal Mint designer who modelled the artwork onto the coins, said: “The Harry Potter illustrations are so iconic and recognisable, we wanted to faithfully recreate them on a UK coin for the first time. Working with Jim Kay, we’ve created a collection which is a fitting celebration to the original artwork and the iconic story."