A historian has questioned the accuracy of a new £2 coin showing the signing of the Magna Carta, saying King John would have not have used a quill.
Dr Marc Morris, an expert in the Middle Ages, said experts at the Royal Mint made a "schoolboy error".
The Magna Carta would have been 'endorsed' by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on June 15 1215, with a Royal seal, rather than with the stroke of a quill pen, said Dr Morris, who presented the Channel 4 show Castle
The charter enshrined that taxpayers had a right to be represented, the right to a fair trial and that nobody was "above the law", even Royalty.
The Royal Mint commissioned the coin artist John Bergdahl to create the £2 coin to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the charter.
It is on sale for £10, complete with a 'medieval inspired' display mount and is a celebration of the "catalyst towards freedom for the ordinary man".
Dr Morris, 41, the author of several books - among them The Bigod Earls of Norfolk in the Thirteenth Century and King John: Treachery, Tyranny and the Road to Magna Carta - said the coin was 'historically wrong'.
He said: "To depict King John holding a quill is simply a schoolboy error.
"Medieval kings did not authenticate documents by signing them, they did it by sealing them - or rather by getting one of their officials to do it for them.
"All the pen in John's hand symbolises is ignorance of this basic fact."
Dr Morris even created what he described as a "more historically accurate" image of the signing of the Magna Carta out of Playmobil figures and posted the image on Twitter.
In the posting he stated: "A far more accurate depiction of what went on at Runnymede than that produced by the Royal Mint."
The Royal Mint defended the coin, saying the image was 'symbolic' rather than 'factual'.
A spokesman said: "The design is symbolic of King John's acceptance of the Magna Carta, it is not intended to be interpreted as a literal account of what actually occurred.
"The design is in fact inspired by King John's royal seal, the very seal used on the Magna Carta."
Mr Bergdahl added: "I wanted to include the figures who would have been key players in the formation of the Magna Carta at Runnymede.
"I was influenced by the art of the medieval period, which was quite uncomplicated and crude, and the ornate cornice and rose carvings echo the architecture of the era reflecting the time the Magna Carta was created.
"The inscription uses medieval-style font that surrounds the design as the inscription on King John's royal seal did in the middle ages."
The coin was produced along with a 50p piece commemorating the Battle of Britain and another £2 coin celebrating the role of the Royal Navy in the First World War.
