New Coins for the United Kingdom
The money in your pocket is changing. The backs of the one, two, five, 10, 20, and 50 pence pieces and the pound coins have been redesigned.
The main change in the design of competition winner Matthew Dent is that the coins all feature different parts of a single image, the Royal Shield of the UK. The size, shape, material and weight of the coins remains the same, but there are subtle and significant differences in the designs.
Philip Mussell, of Coin News magazine, and Philip Nathan, sculptor and numismatic designer, responsible for numerous commemorative British coins and the general coinage of Barbados, among others, give their observations on the new designs.
The theme of a single image shown in parts over the reverses of the coins surprised many. "They are quite different from anything we have ever had before," says Mussell. "Every single image has been a complete image as far as I'm aware. It is a very clever, innovative way of doing things."
The old coins all showed a single image. The portcullis on the one pence piece, the crowned lion on the 10 pence or the Tudor rose on the 20 pence piece are all very recognisable images. These will now disappear from the nation's coinage.
The innovative design concept of the coins can have a strange effect when the coins are taken in isolation, as can be seen with the new 20 pence piece. Because of the way the shield is divided a fleur-de-lys appears pointing diagonally downwards at the top of the coin, notes Nathan. "The twenty pence piece is a very difficult shape to work with. In this case the designer has ignored it."
But the 20 pence piece also shows the similarity with the old reverse. The practice of having the lettering mostly indented, rather than raised as in other coins in the series, is retained. Also retained is the thick band at the edge of the coin. In the old designs, the image runs over on to the band. In the new design the banding is also used for the image.
Nathan was quick to spot that the other major difference is the absence of numerals. In a nation visited by so many non-English speakers, this is an interesting choice, suggests Mussell.
On the old coins there were numerals on the one, two, five, 10, 20 and 50 pence pieces, but not on the pound coin for obvious reasons.
Ahead of the unveiling, the major news was the absence of Britannia from the the 50 pence piece. But, Mussell points out, this motif is not a constant of British coinage. It was introduced by the Romans, fell out of favour after their departure, and was reintroduced by Charles II in 1672 with the goddess modelled on a female friend of the king, says Mussell.
The move away from Britannia has not pleased traditionalists, with the Daily Express labelling a move to drop an "iconic figure" as "plain daft". But some will have noted that many 50 pence pieces already do not feature Britannia, instead devoting the reverse to major commemorations. These have included D-Day and entry into the European Economic Community.
The new coinage offers no nod towards the national symbols of Wales, notes Mussell. The quarters of the shield represent England, Scotland, Ireland, and England again.
On the old coins, the two pence piece showed the emblem of the prince of Wales, three ostrich feathers within a crown. The new design shows the Scottish section of the Royal Shield.
For all the radical redesign of the reverse, the new coins are remaining the same in many ways. Their size, shape, weight and metal make-up will not be affected, something that is very important for quick recognition by shoppers, Mussell says.
The new pound coin is being referred to as the "jigsaw box lid", as it bears the complete image of the Royal Shield that is spread across the other coins. The old coins had a polished finish, while the new have some matte elements.
The new coins do not have the raised dotted line just inside the edge of the piece that could be found on all the old circular coins.
"Beading is not that traditional [on British coinage]," says Mussell. "I wouldn't say it went back more than a couple of hundred years."
Philip Mussell believes the new designs are intriguing, with the main theme, the spread image, a first in coinage.
But Philip Nathan does not believe that the new designs do not represent a satisfying artistic and numismatic whole. The selection of designs by committee often makes achieving this difficult, he insists.
"There is no special interest in terms of history," he says. "All we have done is subdivide a single coat of arms. Changing it this way does not make the images look modern. It is a graphic design solution."
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Originally Posted by Tr1xerb3ll
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