PRINCE WILLIAM TO APPEAR ON £ 5 COIN

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V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 22, May 29, 2022, Article 28

The Royal Mint has announced a new coin for Prince William's 40th birthday. Here's an excerpt from an article in The Telegraph. -Editor

The Duke of Cambridge's 40th birthday will be celebrated with a £ 5 coin featuring his portrait, the Royal Mint has announced.

The UK's official coin producer has unveiled the coin ahead of Prince William's milestone birthday on June 21.

It is the first time the Duke, who is second in line to the throne, will appear alone on an official UK coin struck by the Royal Mint.

The coin's depiction of Prince William appears to be based on a photo taken at the Queen's Birthday Party in June 2018, at the UK Ambassador's residence in Amman, Jordan.

The commemorative piece has been crafted by engraver Thomas T Docherty and shows the Duke in a three-quarter profile gazing up to the top right of the coin, with the number 40 to his left and his royal cypher "W" to his right.

Queen Elizabeth II's image, engraved by Jody Clark, will be struck on the other side of the coin.

There will also be an inscription on the edge reading: "HRH The Duke of Cambridge."

Prince William has previously only appeared on an official UK coin accompanied by the Duchess of Cambridge, issued in 2011 to commemorate the couple's marriage.

Mr Docherty said the coin's design "strikes a balance between the fresh energy of His Royal Highness being a young dad with the ceremonial nature of his royal position".

He added: "A three-quarter angle of the portrait creates a more dynamic portrait rather than a traditional side-on profile.

"I used certain clay sculpting techniques on a digital platform to achieve the style needed for the design, to translate effectively from two to three dimensions."

Nice work. In numismatics though, no good deed goes unpunished. It didn't take naysayers long to start picking on the design, although I do think they have a point. Here's an excerpt from (where else?) the Daily Mail. -Editor

It is the first time the Duke of Cambridge, who is second in line to the throne, will appear alone on an official coin struck by the Royal Mint.

But eyebrows have been raised among social media users over the portrait, with some saying the Royal Mint has been generous with the Prince's hairline.

One Twitter user wrote: 'The £ 5 coin to mark Prince William's 40th birthday has more hair than he does!'

Another Twitter user said: 'They must have used a very old photo for his image the coin, he hasn't had that much hair for many a year!'

They wrote: 'I love Prince William, but sorry, that coin looks more like Lord Voldemort before his hair loss.'

Meanwhile, royal author Phil Dampier told The Sun that William was likely to be 'pleased' with the coin as 'they've given him more hair'.

'He looks younger than 40 so he won't complain. He looks thoughtful but also like he's looking for inspiration, which he will need in coming decades.'

In an earlier E-Sylum article we heard former U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart discuss his conversation with the Dalai Lama about his design for the Congressional Gold Medal. -Editor

The CGM Ceremony was held in the Capitol Rotunda in February of 2007. Several members of the Mint staff were invited to meet with His Holiness in his hotel suite before the ceremony. My boss, John Mercanti, and Ed Moy, the Director of the Mint, accompanied us to the much-anticipated meeting. It was THE hot ticket!

We all sat in a circle with the Dalai Lama to my immediate left. Everyone spoke briefly to him and when it got around to me I mentioned that I had gotten quite a feeling of serenity when working on this medal, which I directly attributed to him. He leaned forward to speak to me and I expected to hear the secret to eternal happiness. Instead he asked "Did you give me hair?" while brushing the top of his head. I assured him that I did. We all had a laugh and then proceeded to talk about male pattern baldness.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DON EVERHART AND THE DALAI LAMA (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n18a23.html)