COINS OF THE NEW REIGN

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 25, 2 July 1952, Page 3

COINS OF THE NEW REIGN

Task For The Royal Mint The Standing Committee of the Royal Mint is at present engaged on the changes in British coinage which will follow on the accession of Queen Elizabetli II. Among the cominittee will be the Deputy Master and Comptroller of the Royal Mint, and representatives of the Royal Academy, tiie Rcyal Institute of Bnt'si Arcliitects, an heraldic expert, a sculptor, and a representative of the Queen. From an "Eye-witness" B.B.G. talk by Sylvia Gray, reprinted in part in the B.B.C. 4Listener," it appears that Her Majesty may, if she wishes, choose an artist herself, just as she may also deeide which way her profile will face on the coins. If she likes, she may be the first sovereign since Henry VIII to appear full face on a coin, but this would be quite a considerable breach of tradition. If She follows tradition, her head will :ace right because her father's faced eft, and the direction usually changes with each monarch. But whatever design is ehosen, the final decision rests with the Queen, and the Royal Mint cannot alter any coins until they have ler permission in a Royal Proelamation. Another important change which has to be made is in the Great Seal of Engiand. This is a heavy silver disc, hinged to a similar dise, the counter seal. The two halves pressed together make the wax impression that is fixed to more important state documents. The seal is the badge of office of the Lord Chancellor, and it has been part of the British Royal Government since the days of the Saxons. And here, again, tradition enters the field. By tradition the seal itself has always borne an effigy of the monarch, seated and robed, while the counter seal shows the inonarch on horseback. George V made one of the few recent breaks with custom when he insisted on being shown not on horseback but on the prow of a battleship. Quite a number- of medals will also have to be changed in the next few months, but some, like the Victoria Cross, which commemorate a monarch, will stay the same. But when all designs have been approved and the Royal Proclamations made, and the craftsmen at the Mint have had time to carry out their meticulously skilful work, the new Elizabethan money will be issued. Many people are hoping that it will bring a return to the more feminine charm and delicacy of some of the coins in the days when young Queen Victoria first came to the throne.