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Does Britannia Still Rule the Waves?
 | By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News
March 24, 2008 |
The Roman Britannicus (son of the Emperor Claudius) and much later Britannia have appeared on British coins sporadically since the days of Roman occupation of the British Isles. Britannia has also appeared as a vignette on British bank notes - sort of an unofficial trademark through which British coins and currency can be recognized.
Britannia's latest manifestation, however, will be as the invisible man or woman (Depending on if you choose Britannicus or Britannia.). Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown ensured that fact, approving the removal of the image of Britannia from the 50-pence coin as one of his last acts in office prior to stepping down to become prime minister of the United Kingdom. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the master of the British Royal Mint, although the day-to-day overseeing of the operation is executed by the deputy master of the mint.
Britannia's vanishing act was, according to an article in the Jan. 28 Telegraph newspaper, approved by the queen. The queen's approval is required on all British coinage design changes.
The designs on all British coinage is slated to change in April. This will be the largest design change in the currency system since the British pound sterling system was replaced with the current decimal system 35 years ago. It will be the first time in more than 300 years that the personification of Britannia will not appear on a British coin.
While the Romans had depicted Britannicus on some of their coins as a personification of the British Isles the more modern personification of Britannia was first depicted on a copper farthing coin of Charles II in 1672.
The current design change that includes the vanishing act performed by Britannia is the result of an August 2005 design change competition meant to choose new designs for the reverse of each coin denomination. The queen will continue to appear on the obverse of all British coinage.
There were more than 4,000 suggested designs submitted by 526 persons. The Royal Mint's Advisory Committee was consulted, with seven reverse designs selected to replace the designs on seven circulating coin denominations.
The Telegraph newspaper quoted an unnamed Treasury spokesman as saying, "The new coins will be launched in the spring in accordance with the end of a long process. The queen personally approved the designs, in accordance with the Royal Mint, and there's a lot of excitement about the project, for which I'm sure the nation will be equally proud once they see the product."
The original Britannia, Tiberius Claudius Britannicus, was the son of Roman Emperor Claudius and his wife Messalina. Britannicus was originally named Germanicus, however his name was changed to celebrate his father's conquest of the British isles. (This indicates the name is much older than the time of Britannicus.) Britannicus was born in A.D. 42 and was poisoned on the orders of the Emperor Nero in A.D. 55.
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