CAMBORNE'S most famous son, Richard Trevithick, is honoured this week with the launch of a new £2 coin.

The coin celebrates the 200th anniversary of the first ever steam-powered locomotive, the Penydarren, designed in 1804.

The design of the coin, approved by the Queen, is significant recognition of Richard Trevithick - who was born in 1771 and whose life is commemorated annually in Camborne - and the excellent quality of Cornish engineering in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Trevithick's major achievements in the world of engineering are as great, if not more important, than those of Watt and Stephenson, according to the Trevithick Society, which has members worldwide.

Frank Trevithick Okuno, a direct descendant of the great engineer and a lifelong proponent of his rightful place in history, is delighted about the coin.

It had, at last, given the engineer the permanent public recognition that he so richly deserved, he said.

The coin commemorates Trevithick's achievement in designing and operating the first self-propelled railway locomotive, which ran in February 1804 between Penydarren, Merthyr Tydfil and Abercynon, in South Wales - 25-years before George Stephenson won the Rainhill trials with his Rocket engine.

The genius of Trevithick soon inspired a generation of engineers.

The coin has been designed by Royal Mint engraver Robert Lowe and features the Penydarren locomotive.

It has the name of the inventor on it, along with the date of the locomotive's maiden journey.

The coin will be available in a presentation folder and a number of gold and silver versions will be available later in the year.

It will also be in general circulation during the coming months.

Trevithick was born near Carn Brea mine, the son of a mine captain.

It was in February 1804 that Penydarren hauled ten tons of iron, five wagons and 70 passengers from the ironworks at Penydarren to Merthyr Tydfil in four hours and five minutes. The journey stretched a total of nine miles, during which speeds of five miles an hour were reached.