BRITANNIA'S EVOLUTION

Long before Lady Liberty, Marianne, Germania, and other allegorical numismatic and cultural figures, there was Britannia — the oldest symbol of a nation personified as a strong female still used on coins today.

Her roots are in the Roman conquest of Britain and the use of deities that began in ancient Greece and Rome that first personified concepts like Liberty with a female goddess called Libertas in Rome and Eleutheria in Greece.

Roman Britannia
The Romans (for whom it was previously Albion, as Greek geographers called it) dubbed the British Isles Britannia (derived from the Latin "Britannicae") well before Julius Caesar's triumphant visit in 55 A.D. that was part of his effort to conquer Gaul. The first serious Roman attempts to invade the area were made by Claudius. After winning several battles, Claudius took the surname Britannicus, and several silver and gold coins honoring Claudius featured references to "E Britan" or "E Britannis".

But it was later when Hadrian, who built his famous wall near the border between England and Scotland, that Roman influence increased in the area, which included the building of a shrine in York to Britannia depicted as a goddess. It was during this period (around 119 A.D.) that the first Roman coins were struck that featured a female figure who represented the personification of Britain and mentioned Britannia.

And this Britannia of Roman coinage was based on the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva — a warrior-goddess who guided soldiers in battle and sported a helmet, spear, and shield, as has Britannia, for more than 2,000 years.

Britannia Revived
Many of those motifs used to depict Britannia on Roman coins would later be used when the figure reappeared on British coins of the realm after disappearing for over 1,000 years when Rome fell in 395 A.D., starting in 1672 during the reign of Charles II. The idea may have been revived to inspire the British at a time when the country's naval power was under threat by Spain.

On copper half pennies and farthings, Britannia was shown seated on a rock with an olive branch in her right hand and a spear in her left hand with a shield bearing the Union flag leaning against the rock.

In the centuries since then, Britannia has continued to appear without interruption on the coinage of the British monarchy and the United Kingdom, appearing to this day on circulating 50-pence and £2 coins.

The many different versions of her image over the centuries were clearly designed to convey that message that she is the stoic protector of the British nation and of the territorial integrity and security of Britain, but she also represents the British nation and people themselves and their history.

To read the complete article, see:
Britannia's evolution from Ancient Rome to Modern Britain (https://world.mintnewsblog.com/2021/04/britannias-evolution-from-ancient-rome-to-modern-britain/)

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