23rd November 2024
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History Reviewed

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ISANE Jewish Britain: For The First Time, The Royal Mint Issues A Coin Featuring Britannia As A Woman Of Colour

[The British are crazy. Britain WANTS to be a part of the Third World. The British are nuts. I repeat again, Europeans must invade Britain, conquer it and fix it and make it White and force it to be a part of Europe. Britain is a problem … a BIG THORN IN THE SIDE OF EUROPEANS. That silly little half Jewish island. Britain is insane. Seriously. The most pathetic place imaginable. This is the result of Jews, Banking, Commerce, etc. Jan]

The helmeted warrior Britannia has personified the nation, engraved on coins holding a trident and shield with the symbolic and patriotic lion by her side, for more than 2,000 years. Give or take the odd tweak, she’s remained untouched with the passing of time while society and all those around her have altered. Now, Britannia has been updated to actually reflect the nature of 21st-century Britain. The Royal Mint will issue a commemorative coin today, the first in a three-year series, featuring a woman of colour.

The Britannia 2021 coin.

The Britannia 2021 coin.

The Royal Mint is responsible for putting messaging into the hands of the nation in terms of coinage, and until now this feminine image of strength and power has always been portrayed as white. “It is a huge step change for us,” says Anne Glossop, the first female Deputy Master of the Mint. “Our work is at the core of representing society and the heritage of a nation, and we need to reflect that.”

This new vision was created by award-winning Irish children’s book illustrator PJ Lynch, who was among a wide and diverse group invited to submit designs and renderings to be judged anonymously. “Her face evolved from my imagination,” he explains. “I didn’t think Britannia symbolised nobility or a great leader, but an embodiment of people and the whole of Britain. I thought about all the faces I see walking on the streets, and I wanted to reflect that diversity. I certainly didn’t want one particular woman, she’s very much an amalgam.” The face is drawn close up to show strength, expressive eyes and a resolute character.

The artistic design for the small field of a coin is a specialised skill. “Too much detail on a tiny coin is counterproductive,” he explains. “The most important lesson I’ve learnt is to take things out, which helps get to the essence of the message. I also wanted a spare kind of design to make it modern.”

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Britannias old incarnation on a 50 pence piece.

Britannia’s old incarnation on a 50 pence piece.

Anything portraying the spirit of the nation is taken seriously. There are several committee progressions and hoops to jump through in a process that takes roughly two years. The final coin is passed by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose title in this instance is Master of the Mint, and ultimately it lands on the desk of Her Majesty the Queen for approval. This is followed by an ancient ceremony called Trial of the Pyx, unchanged since the time of Edward I, when the weight and composition of the coins are checked at the Goldsmiths’ Company.

Initially new Britannia will feature on limited-edition silver and gold coins, ranging from 1oz of silver to a dinner plate collector’s size using a kilo of gold, and each one is numbered and certified. There is an increasingly active secondary market, as coins are deemed to have a higher collector’s value as their usage slowly diminishes.

Britannia seen on a 1926 farthing has remained untouched for decades.

Britannia, seen on a 1926 farthing, has remained untouched for decades.

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Britannia’s makeover, including a toning down of weaponry, is clear when you compare her new incarnation to the previous style depicted on 50 pence pieces in our pockets. “It’s hugely symbolic,” agrees lawyer Blondel Cluff, a member of the Royal Mint advisory committee whose Anguillian parents are part of the Windrush generation. “We’ve been British since 1650 so it’s great that we can look at Britannia and see a reflection of ourselves in it.” In his role as a children’s illustrator, PJ Lynch was particularly mindful of the importance for children to see themselves in books, as well as other cultural articles such as new coins. Even in miniature form, a portrait explores life, events and personalities.

“I was hugely impressed by PJ Lynch’s contemporary interpretation of the classic figure of Britannia,” adds Nicholas Cullinan, chairman of the National Portrait Gallery and member of the Royal Mint’s advisory committee. “I’m pleased to see the Royal Mint continuing to embrace greater diversity through coinage design.”

The new coin is a tiny documentary of its era. Britannia was originally based on Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom; the Royal Mint’s museum contains source material showing coin usage since 135AD. At the time, Roman Britain was a diverse place with a multicultural society, so that much hasn’t changed. But now Britannia has.

Source: https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/britannia-woman-of-colour

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