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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17964 Posts |
Today it is 70 years since Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom. Let's see some of the portraits of her that have graced British coinage! Equestrian portrait on 1953 Coronation Crown:  Mary Gillick's portrait used from 1953 to 1967 and still used on Maundy Money:  The famous Arnold Machin portrait was used from 1968 to 1984:  A new equestrian portrait appeared on the Silver Jubilee crown in 1977:  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United Kingdom
17964 Posts |
From 1985 to 1997 Rafael Maklouf's portrait appeared on British coins:  1997 saw a one-off obverse showing the Queen and Prince Philip, on the £5 coin struck for the occasion of their Golden Wedding Anniversary:  In 1998 the Maklouf head was replaced by a portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley:  Her weirdest portrait of all was on this £5 coin issued in 2003:  Since 2015, circulating coins have featured a new portrait by Jody Clark:  For her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen is once again on horseback!  I am sure there have been other one-off portraits on some recent NCLT issues - you are welcome to contribute them to this thread! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17964 Posts |
The UK's offshore islands have used a few different portraits. Jersey used this crowned portrait on its pre-decimal coins:  A more mature crowned portrait used on a 1992 coin from Alderney:  Isle of Man crown from 1999:  Portrait used on the current Isle of Man circulating coins:  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17964 Posts |
Surprisingly, the Queen had to wait until 1960 before her portrait appeared on any English banknotes. This portrait was used on the £1 note from 1960, the 10/- note from 1961, the £5 note from 1963 and the £10 note from 1964:  From 1971 this more mature portrait was used as banknotes were updated:  By the 1990s it was time to update the portrait again!  Here is Her Majesty on the current polymer notes:  Scotland does not normally feature the Queen on banknotes, but this commemorative issue by the Royal Bank was an exception:  Guernsey uses a completely different portrait of the Queen:  This 'Tyvek' pound note from the Isle of Man dates from 1978, but the same portrait appears on Manx notes today:  |
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Pillar of the Community
4628 Posts |
Very nice! Allow me to add a few more outside of Britain   NZ artist James Berry used this portrait on 1979/80/81 New Zealand Dollar coins.  New Zealand coins of 1953 to 1955 and British coins of 1953 featured the "Strapless Portrait" of Her Majesty   This is the portrait with shoulder strap used between 1956 and 1965 in New Zealand and to 1970 in the UK (But not on Decimal coins from 1968 onwards). The other big difference between us and the UK, is the English rather than Latin inscriptions.  Australia from 1953 - 1965 also used the same portrait and latin inscriptions. Finally English colonies and some smaller countries used this crowned portrait of Her Majesty from 1953 to the 1980s in some cases.  Fijian shilling All these coins except Australia were designed and minted in the UK. |
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Pillar of the Community
4628 Posts |
With the adoption of decimal currency came the adoption of the Arnold Machin Portrait!  For New Zealand, dates were at the bottom and we used the portrait until 1985. This was the type used between 1967 and 1983 for circulation and to 1985 for set coins.  This poorly cut and more sketchy version was used on Canadian minted coins for NZ in 1984/85  Australian coins used the same portrait from 1966 to 1984 and the date was on the side, not under her Majesty's effigy  NZ switched to the Maklouf portrait in 1986 and used it until 1998  Australia switched in 1985 along with Britain and also kept it to 1998 |
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Pillar of the Community
4628 Posts |
My least favourite portrait is the Ian Rank Broadley one.  NZ switched in 1999 and used the same portrait on both the old large coins (To 2005) and smaller newer coins (2006 - now). New 2020 coins still use it.  New coins with it  Australia joined with it in 1999 too and this portrait shows the 2004 large and small head 20 cent coins.  A reduced size IRB portrait was used on Australia's 50th anniversary of decimal coins issue in 2016.  Australia moved to the Jodi Clark portrait halfway through 2019, meaning some 2019s are IRB and the rest are Jodi Clark! Fiji on the other hand moved to Machin in 1969  And kept this portrait through to 1985  They moved to Maklouf in 1986 and very bizarrely never moved beyond it. The last Fijian coins with Her Majesty on them was in 2010 and they still had the 1985 portrait on them. On the other hand some Hong Kong coins from 1974 still had the colonial 1953 portrait! |
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Pillar of the Community
4628 Posts |
Some banknotes New ZealandSeries B banknotes issued between 1940 and 1966 did not feature a ruler on them and not until Series C in 1967 did we see Her Majesty for the first time  This "High Tiara" big hair portrait graced the notes from 1967 to 1980 and was on all values  Series D notes of the 1980 - 1990 period featured a modified portrait of the Queen looking more friendly with smaller hair.  In 1992 we switched to Series E and the Queen dropped back to one note the $20 and this is the only image I have. Series F this note is the same but polymer Series G came out in 2015 and again the Queen was on the $20 only  She looks positively ancient here! Edited by Princetane
02/06/2022 8:44 pm
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Pillar of the Community
4628 Posts |
Fijian Banknotes also had some interesting portraits. I start with the 1969 decimal ones which had the nice Pietro Annigoni portrait on them.  It was used from 1969 until 1980 In 1980, a new series of notes was issued and this showed a slightly older but still very formal and stroppy looking portrait.  In 1992 the next series came out and older but much happier Majesty was used. Bear in mind this was after the Rabuka coup.  The portrait is similar to ones I have seen on 1990s Channel Island and Colonial notes from places like the Falkland Islands. In 2007, the last series of notes to feature Her Majesty were issued and showed this older looking but still happy portrait of her Majesty.  After the Bainamarama coup in 2009, Fiji were booted out of the Commonwealth in 2010, but reinstated in 2014. However from 2012, the Queen was removed from their currency. Many independent countries and Republics in the Commonwealth do not have to show our Queen on the notes. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17964 Posts |
Great additions, Princetane! Back to the British Isles, Jersey also used the Pietro Annigoni porrait on its notes:  This was replaced by a New Zealand style portrait from about 1976:  Three generations of Gibraltar notes from the 1980s to the 2010s:    |
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Moderator
 United States
189053 Posts |
Fantastic examples!  I can add a few... 1970 Australia Cook 50 Cents  |
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Moderator
United States
189053 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
189053 Posts |
2020 Mayflower 400th Anniversary UK 2 Pounds  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17964 Posts |
Great contributions, jbuck! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
869 Posts |
A toast to Her Majesty and her remarkable longevity. 1972 Silver wedding anniversary.   |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
9419 Posts |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 3,004 |
Posted 02/06/2022 4:46 pm
