The new £1 coin could have boasted a picture of a full English FRY UP on it

ASK ANYBODY what best represents Britain, most people will think of food such as scones, roast dinners and Yorkshire puddings.

And when the Royal Mint asked for ideas on what should feature on the front of new £1 coin, the most popular entry was a full English breakfast.

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The new 12-sided coin goes into circulation next month and the Royal Mint held a nationwide competition to find a design to appear on the tails side of the coin.

And chief engraver Gordon Summers has revealed that the most popular idea of the 6,000 entries was an old fashioned fry up.

He told the Times: "You would be surprised at how many representations of the full English we had.

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"We only really had 30 to 40 distinct ideas and great British breakfasts featured prominently."

But fearing that eggs, bacon and black pudding would not be appropriate to be on the other side of the Queen's head, the Royal Mint had to dismiss the idea in favour of something less controversial.

Gordon added: "The breakfast designs were ruled out because the coin had to feature something that represented the four home nations and it had to be appropriate.

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"The images that go on coins are the most widely circulated pieces of art in the country. After passport control, the local currency is the first thing that foreign visitors see."

The competition was instead won by 15-year-old David Pearce, from Walsall, whose design featured a rose, leek, thistle and shamrock emerging from a Royal Coronet.

While the Royal Mint averted any questions about the breakfast appearing on the opposite side of the coin to the Queen, the Bank of England came under fire for using traces of animal fat to produce the new £5 note.

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Earlier this month we reported how the trial versions of new £1 coin are already selling for £200 on eBay despite not being able to spend them in the shops yet.

We also revealed the rarest and most valuable £1 coins in circulation so you how to find out if yours is worth a lot more than a quid.