Coins of Great Britain. Part II. XX century.

I want to start the review of British coins issued in the first half of the 20th century by showing coins from the reign of Edward VII. Edward ascended the throne at a fairly mature age, at the age of 60. In the short period of his reign, he issued only one line of coins.

The 1/3 farthing coin was never legal tender in the UK, but was issued exclusively for circulation in the territory of the Crown Colony of Malta, which did not have its own currency from 1813 to 1964, but used the British pound and coins of the metropolis.

A new variant of the shilling was issued with a picture on the reverse of a lion standing on a crown, which also refers us to English heraldry. 

Edward VII's son, George V, ascended the throne in May 1910.

Coins of the first type were issued in 1911-1926. The reverse design is the same as the coins of the previous monarch. The first coin in the line - 1/3 of the farthing, as well as this denomination of Edward VII, was issued exclusively for circulation in the territory of the Crown Colony of Malta. In this period, the issue of silver coins from 1920 to 1926 should also be noted, in which the sample decreased from the traditional 925 to a reduced 500. This was caused by the increased value of silver after the First World War, when the value of the metal turned out to be significantly higher than the value of the coin from which it was minted.

 

This denomination for the first time in our review. I will dwell on the name in a little more detail. The name of the coin came from Florence, where they first began to mint "florins" and from where they dispersed to other countries. For the first time in England, gold florin was first minted in 1343. Silver coins with this name and a face value of two shillings were first issued in 1849.

The second type was produced  from 1925 to 1927. Many of the coins received a new obverse (corrected the shape of the ears, and the head of George V itself became a little smaller), as well as a new reverse (for farthing, ½ pennies and 1 penny, attention should be paid to the number and shape of waves under the feet of "Britain").

Farthing is the only coin from the entire line that continued to be produced without an even greater reduction in portrait in subsequent issues.

The changes also affected a coin in denominations of ½ crowns, which is not yet in the collection.

 

Coins of the third type line began to be issued in 1927-1928. In addition to the reduced portrait of the monarch, the reverse on silver coins was completely changed. On bronze coins, he continued to use the same as on coins of the previous type.

From January to December 1936, the Royal Mint was developing stamps for issuing coins with the profile of Edward VIII. From the very beginning, everything went "not according to plan."

As the previous monarch, George V, had looked "left" on the coins, it was Edward VIII's turn to look "right." But Edward did not like his image from such an angle, since the parting of the hair on his head was not visible, and he insisted on a portrait where he looks in the opposite direction. The centuries-old order of placing images of monarchs on English coins was broken. When the work came to an end: more than 200 layouts with various plots were developed, the final versions for each of the denominations were approved and trial versions with a year of issue of 1937 were minted in a limited edition, Edward VIII decides to abdicate .

 

In fairness, I note that several colonies still managed to issue coins indicating the throne name of the monarch. These are British East Africa and West Africa, Fiji, New Guinea and a couple of Indian native principalities (12 different types of coins in total). 

 

So, on the coins of the new king there are new plots: a bird wren on a farthing, Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind galleon, which circumnavigated the world in the 16th century at ½ pennies, an updated Britain with a lighthouse returned to it on a 1 penny coin.

When developing the design of coins for Edward VIII, they thought about the advisability of further issuing threepenny coins on silver blanks. So the design of threepenny coins was developed on nickel-brass 12 faceted blanks depicting three intertwined stems of leeks, which is the national symbol of Wales - the historical region of Great Britain, as well as a silver coin depicting three intertwined rings.

 

After the coronation of George VI, they did not immediately refuse to mint silver threepence coins, therefore, for quite a long time, from 1937 to 1945, two completely different types of threepence coins were issued in parallel. The first on silver blanks with the image on the reverse of the shield of St. George on the Tudor Rose, the second with a slightly modified design of Edward VIII coins.

The reverse of the sixpence for Edward VIII was a complex drawing of six intertwined rings, but for George VI coins the approval received a reverse of a different design. This is a monogram of the king of GRI (Georgius Rex Imperator), crowned with a  crown.

Another, no less interesting story is associated with shillings. During the reign of Edward VII and George V, shillings depicted a walking lion on a crown (top of the English version of the coat of arms of Great Britain). Edward VIII wished to see another plot on his coin - a lion standing on its hind legs on a crown with a sword and a scepter in its front legs (top of the Scottish version of the coat of arms of Great Britain). George VI did not choose which of the plots to prefer to be depicted on his coins, and issued shillings simultaneously in both versions: in the English and Scottish versions. Moreover, the monarch's wife, Queen Elizabeth, came from an ancient Scottish family and the release of both varieties testified to the recognition of the equality of the Scottish nation with the English. 

The design of 2 shillings (florin) coins was also borrowed from the developments for Edward VIII coins, only initials were replaced: ER to GR (Edwardvs Rex/Georgius Rex). The plot is replete with floristic and heraldic symbols: the crowned rose of Tudor (England), shamrock (Ireland) and thistle (Scotland).

The design of Edward VIII coins in denominations of ½ crown was changed: on the reverse, the royal standard was replaced by a four-part shield.

In conclusion, references to themes with coins of Great Britain , the British colonies and crown lands: