As many readers will know, since the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) convention has decreed that the portrait of the successor to the British throne will always face in the opposite direction to the image on the coins of the previous monarch; something we have seen very recently with the unveiling of the first coins of King Charles III. Thus, when Elizabeth II became queen her right facing profile was presented on her first coins, which began to circulate in 1953. We did not know at the time that her reign would span even more decades than that of her great great grandmother, Victoria (1837-1901). The QEII coin era is truly a unique chapter in our history, and one that will fascinate and challenge collectors for many years (centuries, even) to come.
A competition to find a designer for the first coins of the reign got underway in 1952 and soon whittled down to seventeen entrants from which Mary Gillick, a relatively unknown sculptor from Nottinghamshire, emerged as winner. Her charming and almost informal design depicted an uncrowned Elizabeth, the portrait extending to her shoulders, unlike the portraits of her father, grandfather and great grandfather which – in couped style – showed the head and neck only. In fact,
