British Coinage Guides, History & Advice

The History of Crowned Coinage Portraits

Posted on August 4, 2023August 12, 2024 by Vanessa Brockwell

It has been 11 months since Charles III became King of the United Kingdom, following the sad death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. This is a huge change for the British public, and new coinage featuring King Charles III is now trickling through into circulation.

If you have noticed that The King’s circulating coinage doesn’t feature him wearing a crown and wondered the reason for this, especially when the late Queen Elizabeth II wore a crown on her circulating coinage portraits, then you have come to the right place! Here is everything you need to know about the history of crowned coinage portraits…

A guide to the 1953 Coronation British coins

Posted on June 1, 2023August 14, 2024 by Vanessa Brockwell

Although Elizabeth II became Queen on 6th February 1952, following the sad passing of her father, King George VI, she was not formally invested until her coronation on the 2nd June 1953.

As a result, the Royal Mint had almost 18 months to prepare coinage for the new monarch, a process which involves utilising years of royal tradition. Here, we will be exploring the complete collection of 1953 Queen Elizabeth II coronation coins…

Crown coins of monarchs who reigned before Charles III

Posted on May 13, 2023August 21, 2024 by Vanessa Brockwell

This year sees the coronation of a new British monarch, the first for over seventy years, reminding us how special an event like this is. Certainly, there will be special coins issued to commemorate the event, but what may surprise you is that of the five monarchs to precede King Charles III, only three of them had crown coins issued for their coronation year, and of those only two were commemorative designs.

There are five particular coins that bring together those special coronation year issues, with two others to mark significant jubilees of the five crowned monarchs to precede King Charles III. Here is everything you need to know about them…

The Importance of Royal Maundy

Posted on April 3, 2023August 9, 2024 by Sofia Soares

Royal Maundy is the tradition of the British Monarch ceremonially distributing small silver coins, known as “Maundy Money”, to elderly recipients. It dates back as far 600 AD and its origins lie in the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples after the Last Supper. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “mandatum”, meaning the command that Jesus gave to his disciples to “love one another”.

The Changing Faces of Coin Portraiture

Posted on March 6, 2023September 12, 2024 by Sofia Soares

In an age filled with television, social media and all of the technology we could ask for, it’s hard to imagine a time where people couldn’t ‘virtually’ see each other, including their own Monarch or leader.

However, centuries ago most people would have only seen the face of their leader on a coin, with the obverse side depicting the image of a monarch or leader for thousands of years. We’ll be taking a look back at coin portraiture throughout the ages, and how dramatically this has changed.

Timeline of the British Coins of Queen Elizabeth II

Posted on September 12, 2022October 9, 2024 by Vanessa Brockwell

Throughout her incredible seventy-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II appeared on a multitude of different coins, from pre-decimal to now. The very first coinage portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was created by Mary Gillick in 1953, and was used on coins in the United Kingdom and other countries until 1970.

Here, we will be looking back at the British coins of Queen Elizabeth II through the years.

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