Posts Tagged ‘Britannia’
The long-awaited return of a British Icon
She made her first appearance on British coins in 1672 and subsequently became a permanent figure in an unbroken cycle lasting more than 300 years. Now, according to coinupdate.com, The Royal Mint have announced at the Berlin Coin Show that this year Britannia will be making a triumphant return to the new £2 coin.
Britannia last appeared on the Fifty Pence coin in 2008
The last time Britannia appeared on British circulating coinage was 2008 – you probably remember last seeing her on the Fifty Pence piece. Her removal outraged thousands, with a well-publicised campaign led by the Daily Mail proving unsuccessful in saving a long-standing and unequivocally British institution.
It was the Romans who first created the personification of Britain as a noble female warrior, but it was Charles II who introduced her to British coinage in 1672. Charles was married to Catherine of Braganza at the time, but interestingly, it was actually her Maid of Honour and object of his desires; Frances Teresa Stuart or ‘La Belle Stuart’, who modelled and was immortalised as the figure of Britannia.
There have been many different depictions of Britannia since the first one in 1672
When Britannia first appeared on the Charles II Farthing, Britain was engaged in a naval battle with Holland, and her figure came to be a defining symol of British national spirit. Her evocative seated pose with a trident and shield embodied British defiance and sovereignty over the seas, at a time when the British Empire, and in particular the British Royal Navy, was at the height of its power.
Britannia will replace the definitive ‘Technology’ £2 design this year
The History of Technology design on the £2 coin which was first introduced in 1997 never really captured the imagination of the public. Now, after an 18-year stint on Britain’s highest denomination coin, it will be making way for the return of a quintessentially British icon.
The news of Britannia’s return was received with much excitement at the 2015 World Money Fair in Berlin, and with the revelation of a fifth Queen’s portrait imminent, this is another major development for Change Checkers to look forward to.
You can now find Britannia and some of the other British circulating 50p designs in the Change Checker shop.
Click here to start browsing.
How Britannia struck the first Ironside 50p…live on the BBC
Jean Ironside certainly isn’t a household name, but the truth is she has been an understated part of our decimal coinage for the last 40 years. The BBC’s One Show visited her on Monday evening to explain why.
While Britain was undergoing a currency revolution in the sixties, Jean’s husband Christopher was busy designing the reverses for all the brand new decimal coins – one of which was Britannia – the female allegory who has adorned our coinage in one form or another for more than 300 years.
For Jean, this meant painstaking hours of life modelling while Christopher perfected his now famous masterpiece for our fifty pence pieces. She recalls how she improvised Britannia’s strong pose with a ruler and a piece of paper to get everything just right.
Jean replicated the famous Britannia pose for her husband using a ruler as the trident
But Britannia wasn’t Ironside’s original idea. He had designed the whole series of decimal coins before they were scrapped in 1964 by new Chancellor James Callaghan, and a competition was opened up to the general public. Unperturbed, Ironside went back to the drawing board with the help of Jean, and won the competition with his stunning and iconic portrayal of Britannia.
Now, to mark the centenary of his birth, Ironside’s original Royal Arms design for the 50p which was banished to the Royal Mint’s vaults has been revived for a new 50p which is about to enter circulation.
Live on the One Show, Jean was given the privilege of receiving the very first of five million pressed Ironside 50p coins – an experience she described as “absolutely wonderful”.
A fitting way to pay tribute to a true numismatic artist and his dutiful Britannia.
See the full show here, available for the next 7 days
Order you very own uncirculated Ironside 50p here, with free p&p!
