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ROYAL MINT UNVEILS NEW LIKENESS OF BRITANNIAIn a February 27, 2015 blog article by Dan Oliver the Royal Mint announced a new design for the two pound coin with a new likeness
of Britannia. Philip Mernick and David Pickup both sent in the article. Thanks. -Editor
The new depiction of Britannia will replace Bruce Rushin’s ‘History of Technological Achievement’ design that has been a constant feature on the £2 coin since its first issue in 1997. The Romans were the first to use Britannia as a personification of the island of Britain. It’s an association that dates back to the reign of Emperor Hadrian, who visited Britain in AD 119. However, her history on Britain’s coinage is somewhat shorter, as it wasn’t until 1672 during the reign of Charles II that Britannia first featured on Britain’s coins. For over 300 years, Britannia remained a permanent feature of the coinage, gracing the coins of every British monarch from 1672 until 2008 – when Britannia was last struck on circulating coins.  Britannia’s long-awaited return to the coinage is truly historic, and the new design by Anthony Dufort features Britannia as we have never seen her before! It has a contemporary and modern feel, with a cropped portrait displaying only the head and shoulders of Britannia – a departure from the traditional seated pose and the familiar defiant stance on bullion coins. However, her heritage remains: both the trident and shield clearly feature in the design, and Britannia is seen wearing a Corinthian helmet. Philip and I like the design, but David's still deciding. -Editor
David Pickup writes: Not sure what to think of it. It is interesting as a design but nothing like as good as the traditional designs on the penny! Pabitra Saha writes: Finally, the UK has decided to go in for new reverse design for 2 Pounds coin, which it skipped while issuing the new "Coat of Arms jigsaw" series in 2008. The old design was issued for the first time in 1997. The tradition of not indicating denomination in numeric form was started with this coin. Hopefully, the year will be indicated on the obverse (and not skipped). The chance of redesigning the coin in shape and size has also been not availed. Hopefully, the Royal mint will avoid the temptation of minting this coin with the old effigy of the queen, to create some rare coins and hence some easy profiteering. The new effigy will be announced in two - three days. To read the complete article, see: Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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