ARTICLE PROFILES JODY CLARK OF ROYAL MINT

His initials are on every British coin minted since 2015, but who is the Jiu Jitsu enthusiast who designed the Queen's head, despite never having met her?

He is an artist whose most famous portrait has been reproduced billions of times, and you probably have one in your pocket right now.

But chances are you never will have heard of Jody Clark. Pull out any British coin minted since 2015 and look carefully enough and there are his initials - beneath the Queen's head.

The quietly-spoken designer's portrait of the Queen was chosen from scores of designs to appear on British coins.

It is only the fifth since she first took to the throne in 1952 and, with the phasing out of the old round pound coin, will soon be the only effigy on £1 coins.

But, as he sits down and swings gently on his office chair at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, clasping his hands and looking nervous, it is difficult to believe Mr Clark, from Cardiff, is behind the portrait.

The 36-year-old's background in art is a far cry from the classically trained sculptors who have previously modelled the Queen's head for coins.

While his predecessor, Ian Rank-Broadley, trained at the famous Slade School of Fine Art, Mr Clark designed DVD boxes and other packaging after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire.

And rather than focusing on more traditional subjects, Mr Clark, originally from Bowness on Windermere, in the Lake District, has a passion for Jiu Jitsu, which he explores through art.

He has drawn pictures of samurai and people in martial art holds, as well as dragons.

But Mr Clark says his past experience of working with packaging and his "obsession" with Jiu Jitsu have helped inspire his coins designs.

He added: "Designing packaging involved embossing - which meant taking account [of] using different thicknesses of material, so in that way it was similar to designing a coin."

To read the complete article, see:
Queen's head: Artist whose initials are on new £1 coin (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-40801798)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web