decimal series. The designer was Arnold Machin.
A Paper given at the June
2020 online Conference
The Portraits
of Queen Elizabeth II on Australian Coins by Matthew Lloyd
This paper is based around a talk that I gave on
the Portraits of Queen Elizabeth 11 on coins. This paper is about the 6
portraits of
the Queen since her Coronation.
She is the longest reigning monarch in the history
of Britain and has now ruled for 68 years. She has been the monarch of
Britain and her
Commonwealth since 1952.
In that 68 years, the portrait of the Queen has
changed six times. The first image of the Queen appeared in 1953 when
Australia was using
pounds shillings and pence or better know as the pre-decimal period and
five in the decimal period which started in 1966 on the 14th February.
In 1965 , a currency act was brought into being which states that a
image of the reigning monarch is to appear on the observe of all coins
of the
Commonwealth of Australia.
In 1966, on the 14th February, the first coins of
the decimal era were introduced and this was the first of the 5
portrait designs to appear in the
decimal series. The designer was Arnold Machin.
His design lasted from 1966-1984. It was designed
in 1964 by Arnold Machin for the Royal
Mint. His portrait of the Queen was also used in 1968 when
Britain started the process of decimalisation in
1968. It portrays her at about 38 years of age. This portrait, is my
favourite portrait of the Queen.
The next image was introduced in 1985 and was
designed by Raphael Maklouf.
It
was selected by the Royal Mint in 1982 from a group of 38.
A revised model was made and it was accepted by the Queen to be used on
the coinage of the United Kingdom starting in 1985. The design
was also adopted by Australia , they did not need to use the same
design but choose to. The design was used from the 1st January 1985
until
1998.
The fifth Image was by Vadamir Gottwald.
He was a member of the
Royal Australian Mint Design and Engraving Section. This portrait was
one of three
submitted to the Queen to approve. This designed was approved for
the Royal Visit of 2000.
He became the first Australian since the designer Sir Edgar B Mackennal
to have an obverse portrait design to appear on coins.
Sir Edgar B Mackennal had designed the portrait of her grand father
King George the Fifth, that appears on coins of Australia of 1911 to
1936.
The 6th design was introduced on the coins of
Australia in 2019. This current portrait of the Queen depicted on coins
was designed by
Ms Jody Clark.
She is a Royal Mint Designer. A competition was run by the Royal
Mint Advisory Committee and has been used in the United Kingdom
since 2015 on their coins.
The Clark image that appears on the Australian
coins, is the Commonwealth image and depicts the Victorian Coronation
Necklace as well as
her shoulders which the British design does not. It was revealed in
September 2018 and not used until 2019.
All previous designs are legal tender and will
circulate with the current design. The tradition of the new monarch
facing the opposite position of
their predecessor was kept. The Queen faces right. This tradition was
first introduced in the reign of Charles 11 (1660-1685) when he did not
want to face the same way as Oliver Cromwell. This tradition has been
kept ever since.
You can contact me at the following email address
matthewklloyd@hotmail.com
Information from the Royal Australian Mint Website
The last photo is from the RAM. The rest of the photographs come from
my collection.