Do you like seeing the Queen’s face on the obverse of so many coins?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Gam3rBlake, Apr 5, 2021.

  1. Jim Dale

    Jim Dale Well-Known Member

    I am not good on names, so bear with me. Was Edward Queen Elizabeth's brother? I believe that his face was on the coins of Great Britain before Queen Elizabeth for a short time. There was a scandal with Edward marrying a divorcee, and heavens, she was also a citizen of the United States of America. He gave up his throne to avoid having his wife be the center of attention. I probably don't have all of the details, but I believe that what I wrote is close to accurate.
    Now, when you think of Prince Charles, I believe that the rumors (or facts) are that Prince Charles will not be the next King. I believe that if that is true, Prince William will be the next King. Will his wife become the Queen if Prince William is the next King?
     
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  3. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Edward VIII was Queen Elizabeth II's uncle. He had to abdicate in less than a year because he chose to marry Wallis Simpson who was twice divorced. Edward VIII also admired the Nazis which was not a good thing, but that came after he abdicated.

    George VI was Queen Elizabeth's father. Many think that he was a very good to great king who helped to lead the British through World War II.

    If William becomes the next king, his wife will be queen, but she will only hold that post as long as he is king. If he should leave for some reason, she would no longer be queen.

    The last time this happened was when George VI was king. His wife, Elizabeth Bowers-Lyon was queen until he died. After his death, she became the queen mother and was much admired. I think that she lived to be 101.

    And, yes, I am an American, but I have made quite a study of the British crown and its coins.
     
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  4. Dafydd

    Dafydd Supporter! Supporter

    Edward was the brother of the Queens father who was George V1. His difficulty was that the Church of England of which he would be the head if he remained King frowned on divorce so there was a constitutional issue. The fact that Wallis Simpson was an American was no issue, in fact Queen Elizabeth married a Greek person, Prince Phillip. The real issue was that she was a divorcee.
    Fact is Prince Charles will be the next King and William on his death. Charles' wife Camilla will not be the Queen but the Princess Consort.
    The titles can be confusing but are hereditary. For example Harry is a Prince but his son Archie cannot be a Prince until Charles takes the throne and then he automatically becomes a Prince as the grandson of the Monarch. This cannot happen until Charles takes the throne and was never going to happen as that is not how it is done. Harry would have known this being brought up in such circles.
     
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  5. Dafydd

    Dafydd Supporter! Supporter

    Ah my reply crossed with @johnmilton, who explained it better than I did. Yes Edward was a Nazi sympathiser and consequently it was rumoured that his presence in the United Kingdom was neither encouraged or welcomed so he made very few trips to England.
     
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  6. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Here is crown from 1980 that commemorated the Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowers-Lyon. The reverse has some fun with her last name with the bows and the lions.

    I bought this from the coin shop that is across the street from the British Museum. It was part of one of those souvenir sets they had made up for the novices and the tourists. I was not really collecting British coins at that point in 2012.


    1980 Queen Mother All.jpg
     
  7. Jim Dale

    Jim Dale Well-Known Member

    I think that my information kind of skirted everything about the British Royalty leaving out a bit of information. I remember something in the news (or somewhere) that Prince Charles will not be "given" or whatever reason, will not be King at the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Does anyone know?
    Anyway, will the death of the Queen automatically change her image on the obverse of British coins? Or is there some time period that must go by before their mint can make the change? I wonder if their Mint already has a new image for their obverse. One sample with Charles as the obverse and another of William (and maybe another for Prince Harry)? I wonder if there will be a clamor for the last one pound coin in the year that the Queen dies?
     
  8. coinaline

    coinaline Active Member

    I understand the history and the reason QE2 is on the coins, but couldn't they get more creative with the poses? Just a thought.

    Elizabeth honestly is the healthiest looking 90 some year old I have ever seen, so she could last another decade or more as monarch.

    And yes Harry should have known about his son not being a prince, but I don't think he's even the assistant showrunner in that union. Maybe personal assistant :hilarious:
     
  9. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    There has been talk that Charles might pass on being king, but I don't think that is the least bit official.

    The queen's image will not change on the British coins for a year. After one year, the next monarch will face left, which is the tradition. They alternate the profile back and forth from the monarch to monarch.

    An interesting fact is that Edward VIII asked that he would face the same as his father, left, which would have broken tradition. His pattern coins were made that way, but he abdicated before any of this coins were issued officially.

    When his brother, George VI became king, his portrait faced left. It was as if Edward had faced right and then the next king George VI faced in the other direction.

    In case you are confused, here are some examples.

    Edward VII faced right

    1902 2 Pounds All.jpg

    His son, George V faced left.

    1925 Sov All.jpg

    George V's son, George VI faced left - Edward VIII was supposed to have faced right.

    1937 2 Sov All.jpg

    And George VI's daughter, Elizabeth faces right.

    1986 Sovereign.jpg
     
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  10. potty dollar 1878

    potty dollar 1878 Well-Known Member

  11. Bambam8778

    Bambam8778 Well-Known Member

    I think of the portrait of a living person is on the coinage then it should be updated more frequently than they do now. I don’t have an issue with it, at this point it’s just ...... blah.
     
  12. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Coin designers feel the same way about all of the words they have to include in U.S. coin designs.

    In God we trust
    United States of America
    E. Pluribus Unum
    Liberty
    the date
    The denomination

    That's why some things have been moved to the edge, historically and in recent years.
     
  13. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    Vivat Regina! Long live the Queen! I do believe she will be the last British monarch to have appeared on so many commonwealth nation's coins. After her reign several nations as have been suggested could become republics and or leave the British commonwealth.

    I have pondered at times, who has their image on more coins - Lincoln or Queen Elizabeth?
     
  14. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    I thought that Lincoln held that record because the billions of Lincoln Cents that are struck every year. Of course, a lot of those coins are not very durable because they are made of zinc.
     
  15. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    I'm honestly amazed that so many countries, Britain included, advocate for having a monarchy. I believe the Sovereign Grant costs the British taxpayers in excess of $96,000,000 a year. For what?
     
  16. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    It's part of the glue that holds the British commonwealth together. Of course, as it is in the U.S., if the younger generation has little regard for history and tradition, the royals might end up working for a living.
     
  17. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

    Keep in mind that QE2 is on her 5th portrait. If she hits 100, a sixth portrait may be due. Some of the outlying former colonies use much younger versions and have not update their coins, so there is some differentiation. I do agree it is somewhat boring, but some on this topic have commented on Washington, FDR, Kennedy, Lincoln etc. are also boring after a while. One has to hope that the reverse makes up for the familiarity. One coin in that vein are the Native American coins that change each year (also known as the Sacagawea dollar). Even the mighty venerable ASE is changing this year!
     
  18. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    Here are some coins showing how the Queen Mum has aged through the years, clockwise from top. Just sharing.

    20210405_200652.jpg
     
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  19. Gam3rBlake

    Gam3rBlake Well-Known Member

    Yes Edward was Queen Elizabeth's brother. His reign was very short. The reason he abdicated is not because Wallis Simpson was an American. It was because she was TWICE divorced especially with still living ex-spouses as Simpson had. If her husbands had died it would've been more acceptable. As King of England Edward would also be the leader of the Church of England which at that time heavily frowned upon a man marrying a woman who had divorced. He would just be a giant hypocrite if he was the leader of the Church of England and the Church was telling people not to marry divorcees with still living ex-spouses and yet he went out and did exactly that. It wouldn't work.

    When Edward insisted he was going to marry her his government threatened to resign. He chose to abdicate instead.

    Oh yeah and Edward was also very sympathetic to the Nazis and actually met with Hitler and supported some Nazi views.
     
  20. Maxfli

    Maxfli Well-Known Member

    Worth noting that Edward VIII's identity, though not his effigy, appeared on the circulating coins of four British colonies in 1936: British West Africa, East Africa, Fiji and New Guinea.
     
  21. atcarroll

    atcarroll Well-Known Member

    Same here, I'm American but have been studying British, and more specifically English history for a while. It started with research into my family tree. Edmund Crouchback, longshanks's brother, was one of my 23rd great grandfathers. Nothing special, he probably has several hundred thousand descendants, but i thought it was pretty cool.
     
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