Last Updated on 09/11/2022 by てんしょく飯
With the passing of Queen Elizabeth, the design of banknotes and coins will be changed. This will affect not only the United Kingdom but also the countries of the British Commonwealth.
Portrait of King Charles on British coins
Queen Elizabeth, who had been monarch of the United Kingdom for 70 years, passed away at the age of 96. For as long as she has been in office, the Queen’s face has appeared on banknotes and coins, but will now be replaced by the portrait of the new King Charles. This will also include the design of postage stamps.
According to PA Media and other British media, the newly designed portrait of the King will have his face facing left. The reason for this is that Queen Elizabeth’s face, which is used on the current coins, faces to the right. It has been a tradition since the 17th century that the portrait of the former monarch faces in the opposite direction.
For the time being, however, the royal family is also in mourning. Since it will take a certain amount of time before the portrait of the new king is completed and the coins are produced, it is expected that coins with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth will continue to be produced for the time being. The Bank of England has also clarified that the Queen Elizabeth coins can still be used after the new coin designs come into circulation.
Queen Elizabeth is also depicted on non-British coins.
The United Kingdom is not the only country that will be changing the design of its coins following the passing of the Queen. Thirty-five countries have adopted the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, including Canada, New Zealand, and other members of the British Commonwealth.
Canada was the first country to adopt Queen Elizabeth’s portrait on its currency in 1935, and today the Queen appears on the C$20 bill. King Charles, however, is less popular, and in 2016, during the time of the Crown Prince, there were reportedly discussions within the Bank of Canada about the possibility of discontinuing the tradition of using the British monarch’s portrait if the Queen died or abdicated before the new banknote was issued.
And following the Queen’s death, the Bank of Canada commented to the U.S.-based bloomberg that it would be up to Justin Trudeau’s administration to decide whether to adopt King Charles’ portrait on the new banknotes. The bank also stated that “there is no legal requirement to change the design of the banknotes when the monarch changes, as long as the change is made within a specified period of time,” and there is a possibility that the banknotes with Queen Elizabeth’s portrait will continue to be used.
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