Here's the Foreword to the upcoming Noonan's Platinum Jubilee Auction of banknotes picturing Queen Elizabeth II throughout her long reign.
-Editor
The Platinum Jubilee Auction
Elizabeth the Second,
by the Grace of God, of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen,
Head of the Commonwealth,
Defender of the Faith
At the time of writing, Her Majesty The Queen is the third longest reigning monarch in
history. Her 70 year reign has seen some of the greatest societal, cultural and
technological changes in human history. It is widely believed that hers may be the most
recognised face on the planet, and a small part of that is because she has appeared on
the banknotes of more nations, and for a longer period of time, than any other living
person.
The first pages of this catalogue detail the principle portraits of The Queen that have
appeared on banknotes all over the world between 1952 and the present day. Aside from
the obvious interest in seeing the sheer number of portraits that have been used (there are
over 30 in all, 26 of which appear here), these page show what 70 years really means in
this context. In the earliest images The Queen appears fresh faced and beautiful, and in
some cases barely regal at all, as the artists and engravers of the era struggled to decide
how best to represent a young, female sovereign. In the later, far more stately images,
The Queen is of course older, but now undeniably regal. The final portrait, also shown on
the cover of this catalogue, is inspired by the remarkable artwork created by Chris Levine.
The original work is entitled Equanimity, a word meaning calm and composed, even while
under stress or difficulty.
This auction falls just before the Platinum Jubilee itself, and is our way of marking the
occasion. We know that you will share our joy in celebrating 70 remarkable years on the
throne for our Queen. Noonans especially wishes to thank Pablo Hoffman, Managing
Consultant, for Nuevo Mundo World Paper Money, New York City for his contributions to
the auction.
We wish all of you the very best of luck with your bids,
Andrew, Thomasina, Mike and Barnaby
For more information, see:
https://www.noonans.co.uk/
To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NOONAN'S PLATINUM JUBILEE BANKNOTE AUCTION
(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n21a17.html)
PLATINUM JUBILEE BANKNOTE AUCTION SELECTIONS
(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n21a18.html)
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
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