Russia's President, Dmitry Medvedev, pulled the world's new currency from his pocket at the meeting of G8 leaders in the Italian city of Aquila.

The future of the dollar was one of several subjects debated at the G8 summit

Mr Medvedev, who has been seeking ways to displace the dollar as the world's dominant reserve currency, produced a sample coin of what he described as a
'united future world currency'.

“Here it is,” Mr Medvedev said, according to Bloomberg. “You can see it and touch it.” The coin, which was minted in Belgium, was presented to all the
G8 leaders attending the summit and bears the words 'unity in diversity.'

The possibility of a supranational currency “concerns everyone now, even the mints,” Mr Medvedev said. The test coin “means they’re getting ready. I
think it’s a good sign that we understand how interdependent we are.”

Russia, alongside China and India, have all questioned the dollar's future as a global reserve currency - a status it has enjoyed since inheriting it from
sterling last century.

China's central bank earlier this year laid out an alternative to the dollar in the form of a special international reserve currency administered by the
International Monetary Fund. However, most experts it to take years for the
dollar to be eclipsed..