Matthew Dent (born 1981 in Bangor, Wales) is a British graphic designer best known for designing the reverse sides of seven coins of the pound sterling, introduced in 2008.
Dent studied art at Coleg Menai and graduated in graphic design from the University of Brighton. In 2005, the Royal Mint opened a public competition to redesign the reverses of all circulating British coins (except the £2 coin, which had only been introduced eleven years earlier). Dent's entry was selected as the best among approximately 4,000 submissions, and he received a one-off payment of £35,000.
His designs were inspired by heraldry. He divided the shield of the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom across the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins, so that when placed together they form the complete shield. The full shield appears on his £1 coin, which before the competition had no fixed design, instead changing annually to represent Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
In 2011, Dent designed a commemorative 50p coin for the Royal Mint to celebrate 50 years of the World Wildlife Fund, featuring 50 small pictures of plants, animals and natural resources. In 2012, he designed a limited edition £2 coin featuring the face of Charles Dickens composed of his book titles, to mark the 200th anniversary of Dickens's birth.
His coin designs have collected D&AD Black and Yellow Pencils and the IACA award for best new coin or coin series.
