Princess Elizabeth was 25 years old when she became Queen on 6th February 1952. A competition to create Her Majesty’s first coinage portrait was won by 71-year-old sculptor Mary Gillick, who had never designed a coin before. Gillick’s design successfully captured the optimism that people felt at the dawning of the new Elizabethan Age.

On 15th February 1971 the UK currency went decimal, replacing florins, farthings and shillings with a new system built upon units of 10, prompting the need for an entirely new coinage. To help people distinguish the new coins from the old, a new portrait of Her Majesty was created, this time by Arnold Machin. Machin’s portrait, which now showed a maturing monarch in her early 40's wearing a light tiara, was actually released in 1968 when the first decimal 5p and 10p coins were introduced to help the public prepare for the big change.

Where Gillick and Machin had created realistic effigies of the Queen in her twenties and forties, Raphael Maklouf took a different approach to Her late Majesty’s third coinage portrait. Maklouf preferred a more idealised representation of Her Majesty, who was, by now, fast approaching her 60th birthday, creating a timeless effigy that received some criticism for making the Queen appear flatteringly young. Maklouf ’s portrait is both regal and symbolic, showing Her Majesty wearing the State Diadem and, for the first time, jewellery in the form of earrings and a diamond pendant necklace.

By the time Ian Rank-Broadley’s fourth coinage portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was released in 1998, the nation had celebrated the Queen’s 70th birthday and the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty and Prince Philip.

In 2015, a ‘closed competition’ was held to select a new coinage portrait of The Queen. Each entry was submitted anonymously, allowing the consideration of each design on its own merits. Jody Clark’s portrait shows the monarch wearing the Royal Diamond Diadem crown from her coronation.

The allegorical figure caring for the young. This warm and touching depiction of ‘Motherhood’ symbolises the virtue of Charity. It is said to represent the virtue of making charitable efforts to take care of the suffering. As Monarch, both Queens are considered to have held and to exercise the virtue of Charity.

A seated allegory, holding a compass pointing north, to remain on the right path. Constancy, the virtue of being steadfast and constant.

As Head of the Armed Forces, the Sovereign personifies the courageous troops who defend the Nation, the Commonwealth, and its Peoples.

Sword in hand, the winged Angel of Justice symbolises the reputation of a fair and righteous Queen. The child to her left carries her scales, the symbol of unbiased pronouncement.

It is said that the Victorian Era set the foundation for the basic principle and importance of being and acting truthfully as a core virtue and can be directly attributed to Queen Victoria herself. In modern times Queen Elizabeth II is known to have a compelling sense of herself as a spiritual being who is the searcher and the seeker of truth.

Victory signals the end of conflict and a celebration of peace. The Queen as Sovereign was Head of the Armed Forces and was the only person able to formally declare war and more crucially, end a conflict.