JOHN Logie Baird, the inventor of the first working television, will be celebrated with a new 50p coin, the Royal Mint has announced.

The life and work of the Scottish engineering pioneer will be honoured by the commemorative piece as part of the national coin maker’s tribute to innovation in science.

It was designed to mark the 75th anniversary of the death of the “Father of Television”, who lived from 1888 to 1946.

The coin shows a graphic image of a broadcast transmission, featuring concentric circles pulsing outward from a silhouette of the Crystal Palace mast in London, the site of Logie Baird’s television station and transmitter.

Logie Baird achieved renown after managing to relay a static image in 1924, and in 1928 he demonstrated the first transatlantic TV transmission from London to New York. His grandson, Ian Baird, said: “The Baird family feels extremely honoured.”