New coin honors Freddie Mercury and his 4-octave range

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LONDON (AP) — Britain's Royal Mint is celebrating Freddie Mercury with a new coin design that marks 40 years since his iconic Live Aid concert performance.

The coin features an image of the Queen front man, head thrown back and holding the microphone stand midperformance. A musical stave that runs around the edge of the coin represents his four-octave vocal range.

The first coin was struck by Mercury’s sister Kashmira Bulsara at the Royal Mint in Wales last week.

“As Freddie died young, he didn’t get the chance of being awarded a royal medal for his talents in the music world. So to have a royal coin this way is wonderful and very fitting,” she said.

“The coin perfectly captures his passion and the joy he brought to millions through his music," she added. “I think the design is very impressive and they managed to catch the most iconic pose of Freddie, which is so recognizable worldwide.”

The Royal Mint’s director of commemorative coin, Rebecca Morgan, said the timing was perfect for Mercury to be celebrated with his own coin. She said fans had been “calling out” for it and “this felt like the year to do it," because it’s 40 years since he captivated audiences at the 1985 Live Aid concert, hailed by many as the greatest live gig of all time.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Mercury’s solo studio album, “Mr Bad Guy.”

Mercury died at age 45 in 1991, just one day after he publicly announced he was HIV positive.

The Royal Mint has issued special coins to celebrate other music legends including David Bowie, George Michael, Shirley Bassey and Paul McCartney.

The coins go on sale on the Royal Mint website on Tuesday. Prices start at 18.50 pounds ($24.4) for an uncirculated 5-pound denomination version. A 2 oz. gold proof coin costs 9,350 pounds ($12,315.)

The Royal Mint said it will donate a special gold edition of the coin to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity that was started in the singer's memory and donates funds to those living with AIDS and HIV.