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

I feel like having Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse of so many coins is kind of boring.

I know it’s just a traditional/ceremonial thing but when I just keep seeing the Queen’s portrait over and over again on British coins, Australian coins, Canadian coins etc., it takes a lot of the appeal out of the coins.

What do you think? Do you like seeing the Queen on all these coins? Or do you think it would be better seeing different designs and art on the obverse?

Just my thoughts and I’m interested in what others think.

 

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I agree with the boring idea.

 

Honestly, me too. Just hope the other side makes up for it in excitement!

 

I feel like there are so many things they can do with the obverse to make a beautiful coin but then it's just the generic bland Queen Elizabeth II portrait we've seen all over the world for decades.

The Australian Gold Kangaroo and Silver Kookaburras are a great example. They have awesome designs for the reverse but then the obverse of the Queen just makes them look..meh.

Definitely think they should mix things up. I don't think Queen Elizabeth II will be around too much longer though. She's like 100 years old. I mean I don't want her to die just so the coins change things up but I am interested to see what they do for her successor.

I'd love to see them do a Kate Middleton (Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) obverse and see them implement her beauty into an amazing design for the obverse, but sadly she won't be the monarch since William will be the monarch.

 

While it does get a little repetitive on so many issues, and personally as an American I find it an unnatural concept to be subject to a monarchy, I do still appreciate the historical aspect of seeing the current monarch at the time of issue portrayed on coins of the British Empire. Handling a raw Victoria Sovereign, for instance, is a special connection to a different time. Someday, long in the future, the coins of Elizabeth II may carry a similar appeal.

 

I actually really love the Victorian coinage too. I've always wanted to own a Quintuple Sovereign. Those things are massive! Over an ounce of pure gold. I believe it's 1.1775 oz of gold with copper mixed in at .9167 gold fineness.

Second only to the ginormous vintage 50 peso coin weighing in at a whopping 1.2 troy oz.

I've always loved big, hefty, thick gold coins. They remind me of the stuff from pirate movies and movies about the Middle Ages even though historically even small gold coins were too valuable to be used often let alone the massive gold coins.

 

William will NOT be the next monarch though, Prince Charles will be unless something happens to him before QEII.

 

Yeah but Charles is already really old.

I think William will be the next monarch who actually has a decades long reign.

Whereas I don’t even think Charles will have even a 10 year reign.

 

Actually, I hope NOT! In which case, will the coins with his image on them be more collectible? Good point, Gam3rBlake, thx.

 

I mean, I don't care considering she really can't last that much longer. The institution of the Royal Family will come down eventually, and the coins will follow

 

Having Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington and Roosevelt on so many coins is boring too. Nothing folks like us can do is going to change any of that.

 

It doesn't bother me as I don't live in one of those countries.

 

As a Brit , before I collected coins, I was surprised on a trip to Oz to see QE2 on the money.She's still ceremonial head of state of her former gaol!I expect I learnt it in school then forgot.I think they(Oz) may have a referendum when she is gone as there is some affection for her personally,(but not royalty in general, necessarily)It's mean to upset a nice old dear.
When I met her in 1977 she alredy looked ancient compared to her portrait! Then again I was 11 and anyone over 30 looked like an OAP.
I agree that most modern coins with her head on are a bit 'one sided'.Taking the long view, I am glad that Roman emperors and previous royals put their portraits on coins...
I'm not a royalist and don't collect modern, or British except tokens, so please take my twopennyworth with a pinch of salt
Robin

 

Living in Canada and born in 1950 I have always seen a Royal on our coins similar to the United States with Presidents on their coins. I think it all comes down to production costs and respect for the person on the coin by Countries minting their coins. I did like the younger version of Queen Elizabeth better from 1953-1964 then the others through the years. Queen Victoria has always been my favorite Royal on coin 1858-1901 Canadian large cents coins . A change would be nice it should happen soon she is getting old but still strong, as for the next Royal to go on the obverse I'm also hoping it will be William's face on a modern obverse of our Canadian coins

 

I prefer it as is. And besides, there likely isn't a long time left before a change, so respect the queen for her time remaining...she's earned it. We've gone way too far here with allowing too much/varied "art" and so-called commemorative designs, subjects and such on our official circulating coinage...diminishes them/us, IMO. Keep this stuff to official commemorative issues, but don't mess with the circulating issues very often, and then only conservatively. The state quarters were OK, but after that it became a mess with this/that, here/there, etc...way too political.

 

The Queen is 95, her mother lived to 101.

Prince Charles is 72.

 

I like the variations of British Victorian portraits. But with QEII, I display the reverse on the albums and/or slabs/flips, etc.

 

Well I'm a Brit and no Monarchist but why change something that has lasted for over 1000 years? I agree with @Blasty that in the future it could be a link with the past. From my point of view, as an ancient collector, (coins that is but I'm the wrong side of 60 so some call me ancient) I get a real thrill seeing images of people who made history 2000 years ago and it is a real link with the past. I have no doubt that some of the images of notables like the Flavians are lifelike as they evolved over time. There were no cameras then and the chance of an artefact surviving until now remote, but thanks to the moneyers and their skill we have a connection with the past and such prolific minting allowed the survival of images that otherwise probably wouldn't have survived.
If the next Carrington event wipes out all digital memory we may be grateful for our coinage and the reverses are usually more important than the obverses in preserving history. The last modern coin I bought was the British Royal Mint Crown celebrating David Bowie, maybe one day in the future might be wondering who he was? The monarch on the front will confirm the timeline. There is a real rush towards a cashless society that has been facilitated by the Pandemic and once that happens we will all be subjects but not necessarily under a monarch.

 

You are going up against over 1,000 years of tradition. Edgar, who was crowned "the king of all of England" in 973, started the tradition. It has become totally institutionalized, except for the very low denominations, after that.

If you don't like to have Queen Elizabeth II's image on all coins, how about these portraits?

Aethelred II, "The Unready"



William the Conqueror



Henry IV