One Queen, Five Portraits, Seventy Years

Romiley Coins
Oct 15
6 min read

Reviewing the many remarkable changes to British coinage during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1953-2022)

*Queen Elizabeth II during the course of her reign*

BACKGROUND

Queen Elizabeth first ascended to the throne in 1952, following the death of her father King George VI, when she was just 26 years old, with two young children. During the course of her reign she became a figure head of Britain and the Commonwealth. The Queen was extremely popular all around the world with Royal fanatics gathering in large numbers to seek out an opportunity to meet the Her late Majesty.

*Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at her coronation in 1953*

In September 2022 Queen Elizabeth sadly passed away at the age of 96. At the time of her death she was the world's longest reigning monarch having just celebrated her Platinum Jubilee only a few months earlier.

QUEEN ELIZABETH COINAGE

(1) The Mary Gillick Portrait (1953-1970)

The very first coin to feature Queen Elizabeth was struck in 1953, which was a special commemorative crown for her coronation in the same year. This was the first time in over 50 years that British coins featured a queen's head obverse since the death of Queen Victoria.

The first portrait designed by Mary Gillick was also used on two other commemorative crowns; which at the time was equal to approximately 5 shillings, one in 1960 for the New York Exposition and one in 1965 for Winston Churchill’s death.

The final coins featuring the Mary Gillick portrait were issued in 1970; a special collector's set was struck with all the pre-decimilised coins (halfcrown to halfpenny) and did not enter general circulation.

The Mary Gillick Portrait as shown on a now withdrawn Sovereign coin

(2) The Arnold Machin Portrait (1968-1984)

In 1969 a new portrait was introduced which coincided with a brand new coin; the fifty pence piece. The second portrait of Queen Elizabeth was created by Arnold Machin and subsequently featured on all new coins issued between 1968 and 1984.

Decimilsation

In 1971 there was a huge change in British coinage as the UK transitioned to a decimilisation system, which is still used today. One hundred pennies to a pound made the old shillings and half-crowns redundant, therefore these coins including those featuring King George VI were withdrawn from circulation. Several new coins also had to be introduced and this was done gradually over subsequent years. Initially the new 'definitive' coins were known as 'new pence' to avoid confusion with the old system, but by 1982 this had been dropped.

For many decades after decimilisation, the circulating British coinage only featured one monarch which did not change until the introduction of King Charles Coins in 2022.

In 2021 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of decimilsation, a new 50p coin was introduced, with a limited edition version which featured the original Arnold Machin portrait.

*The new 50p coin released in 1969 featuring 'Britannia' reverse and Arnold Machin portrait on reverse*

The Crown was the only pre-decimal coin to remain after 1971 and it kept it's face value of 25p. It was struck in 1972 for the Silver Wedding anniversary of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, again in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee. Two more crowns were issued in the 1980's commemorating the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday in 1980 and the royal wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981. These coins were often available for the public to buy at post offices for face value.

In 1990, the face value of the crown was increased to £5 but the size of the coin remained the same. However the coins were minted for commemorative purposes only and are no longer found in general circulation. Commemorative five pound coins are now issued annually to commemorate royal events and in recent years have been used by the Royal Mint for multi-coin collections such as James Bond, Lunar New Year and Queen's Beasts.

(3) The Raphael Maklouf Portrait (1985-1997)

A third portrait was released in 1985 designed by Raphael Maklouf which portrayed the older Queen and was used on all UK coinage until 1997.

During this period, the half-penny was discontinued due to a high rate of inflation which rendered it practically worthless and uneconomical to produce. However the new 'round pound' coin flourished with a new design entering circulation each year.

*The first 'round pound' coin introduced in 1983, featuring the Raphael Maklou portrait*

(4) The Ian Rank-Broadley Portrait (1998-2015)

There were further changes in the 1990's not only by way of a new portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley but the sizing of some coins was reduced to make them thinner, lighter and smaller. The older heavier coins were eventually withdrawn, therefore no original coins from decimilisation in 1971 actually exist in general circulation.

*The famous Kew Gardens 50p from 2009, featuring the Rank-Broadley portrait. Until recently it was the rarest circulating 50p coin*

The New Definitives

In 2008 the definitive coins were re-designed under the branding of 'Royal Shield' this is because when the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins are placed together they form a shield. Each coin bears a slightly different design to make up the relevant segments of the shield. This was the first re-design of the reverse since decimilsation, where all 'small change' coins adopted the same 'Britannia' design which featured on the Arnold Machin 50p.

The Shield definitives continue to exist in circulation alongside the Britannia defintives. A new set of definitives was introduced in 2023 which were designed by King Charles but many of these are yet to reach general circulation.

*The 'Royal Shield' definitives introduced in 2008*

The Two-Pound Coin

Perhaps the biggest change of all saw the introduction of a brand new coin with a face value of two pounds and a bi-metallic design. The first version was released in 1998 but the coins were actually dated 1997 and featured the queen wearing a necklace and earrings (The Maklouf portrait). Coins released in subsequent years featured the Rank-Broadley portrait.

The first non-bimetallic £2 coin (Necklace and Earrings portrait)

Commemorative two-pound coins had previously been released between 1986-1996 but these were single metal composition and not intended for general circulation. Up to 2015 the two pound coin was circulated annually with a design by Bruce Rushin known as 'Technology' as well as various commemorative designs between 1999 and 2016.

From 2015 the reverse design changed to feature a portrait of Britannia which was ironically similar to the Arnold Machin older small change coins. However, since 2017 the Royal Mint has not circulated any £2 coins, due to low demand, although the commemorative editions continue to be released annually by the Royal Mint on a for sale only basis.

In 2022 a commemorative £2 coin was issue for the 25th anniversary of the two pound coin. It featured a variant of the 'Technology' coin with a '25' hologram in the centre. Incidentally, this coin was released after the death of the queen but had already been minted with her portrait on the obverse.

(5) The Jody Clark Portrait (2015-2022)

In 2015 became the fifth artist to design the Queen's portrait when he won a competition. This ended up being the final portrait which featured Queen Elizabeth and was used up to her death in 2022.

During this period, the one pound coin was re-designed. The old 'round pound' was withdrawn as it was believed to be subject to counterfeiting concerns and it was replaced with a new 12-sided bi-metallic coin.

The 12-sided £1 coin introduced in 2017, featuring the Jody Clark portrait

Since 2023 coins have been minted with a portrait of King Charles III, however the Royal Mint tend to make coins in advance and store them until required therefore additional Queen Elizabeth coins are still making their way into circulation.

OVERSEAS PORTRAITS

UK Overseas territories including Gibraltar, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Falkland Islands use the Queen's portrait on their coinage. Many of the territories will accept UK coins but they also mint their own definitive and commemorative designs, which are not technically considered legal tender in the UK.

The territory coins are usually highly sought after by collectors for their unusual designs and low or often uncertain mintage figures. In recent years the production of territory coins has expanded with Brilliant Uncirculated multi-coin collections which commemorate British culture, traditions or institutions.

The portraits used by the overseas territories will often differ from the official UK portrait and can vary from coin to coin.

THE BRAND NEW ROYAL MINT COLLECTION

Commemorating all five portraits for the first time in one collection, five new £5 coins will be released between October 2025 and February 2026 ahead of what would have been the Queen's 100th birthday in April 2026.

Each coin features a replica of the five portraits listed above with the relevant years it was used.