THE NEW COINS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7377, 1 February 1902, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE NEW COINS.

In the new coinage Lord Rosebery's suggestion that " all • the Britains" should form part of the Royal title is to be carried into effect, and instead of the legend "Victoria Dei Gra: Britt: Reginia: Fid: Def: Ind: Imp: " will appear the inscription "Edward VII. Dei Gra: Britt: Omn: Rex Fid: Def: Ind: Imp: ". With this . difference and the substitution of the King's effigy for that" of Queen Victoria, the coins will remain much as they are at present. The opening of the new reign, however, will be commemorated by the issue of two fine coins, a fivepound piece and a two-pound piece, which will probably be liandled by collectors as mementoes rather than by commercial men as a means of exchange.

Every five-pound piece shall have for the obverse impression our effigy, with the inscription " Edwardus VII., Dei Gra: Britt: Omn: Rex Fid: Def: Ind: Imp: ;" and for the reverse the image of Saint George armed, sitting on horseback, attacking the dragon with a sword and a broken spear upon the ground, and the date of the year with a graining upon the edge.

Two-pound pieces. — Every twopound piece shall have the same obverse and reverse impression and inscription in all respects as the fivepound piece, with a graining upon the edge.

While St. George will continue to slay the dragon on the gold coins, Britannia with trident and shield will continue to rule the waves on the bronze. A brief summary of her various shapes since she made her debut in Charles ll.'s reign may be of interest here. It was reported that in the reign of the Merry Monarch, Frances Stewart, afterwards Duchess of Richmond, was the model for the original Britannia. By her side she Had the familiar shield, with the united crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, in her right hand she carried the palm branch of victory and in her left a spear. At the end of the eighteenth century it was decided to ' heighten the effectiveness of the picture by depicting the rolling waves at Britnia's feet, and by putting in, in the distance, a three-masted ship in full sail; and a further change was. made by replacing the spear by the trident as a more suitable emblem of the sovereignty of the seas. In 1825 Pistrucci gave the figure a helmet. Early in Queen Victoria's reign the ship was lost, and when bronze replaced copper Britannia was- represented as seated, and for the first time Eddystone Lighthouse was pictured in the distance, in addition to the ship of fame. In 1895 these accessories were abandoned and the " lady of the seas " was left, as the new coins, to reign without any symbolic background.