Late Queen’s image on new Australian coins shocks UK
alice lilley
Australian commemorative coins depicting Elizabeth II have been described as “monstrous”.
Two coins issued by the Royal Australian Mint to mark the centenary of the late Queen’s birth have been criticized for depicting her as the “Wicked Witch of the West”.
The late Queen appeared on British and Australian coinage throughout her reign, but her image was always shown in profile, whereas her final commemoration in silver featured a full portrait.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliam said the monarch’s portrait looked “grotesque” and more like the “Wicked Witch of the West”.
The collectible $5 and 50-cent silver coins were created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the monarch’s birth in 1926 and were released with online voting closing this week.
Responding to criticism, the Royal Australian Mint admitted that coin images “do not always capture the full beauty of a design once it has been engraved in metal”.
Fitzwilliam said that unlike the new ghost, Elizabeth’s coin portraits were “always dignified.”
Both of the new Australian coins depicting Elizabeth’s later life were designed by Alex Stokic, an artist at the Royal Australian Mint.
Social media users added the following comment to criticism of the monarch’s portrait: “This has to be the most unpleasant portrait on a coin.”
Another added: “The Queen looked nothing like this.”
The new coins have sparked comparisons to various characters, including Mrs. Doubtfire, the fictional maid played by the late Robin Williams in the comedy film of the same name.
Elizabeth II was also Queen of Australia, but Fitzwilliam suggested that “if the Queen had been like her beast, Australia would have been a republic many years ago”.
In 2024, another metal depiction of the late Queen came under criticism for not resembling the monarch.
A bronze statue of the Queen has been added to Antrim Castle Gardens in Northern Ireland, which already houses a statue of Prince Phillip.
Residents claimed it looked nothing like him, and one suggested: “The person who signed this needs to have their eyes tested. That’s not good. I’d take it.”
The Queen has sat for five different coin portraits during her 70-year reign.
Elizabeth II sat four times for Arnold Machin, who created the Machin head in profile used on British postage stamps and various coins since 1968.
Fitzwilliam described the Machin head as “one of the most reproduced images in the world and one of the best known”.
The monarch is always depicted on the currency facing right, in keeping with the tradition of each successive monarch facing the opposite direction of his predecessor. Both King George VI and King Charles III face left in their coin portraits.
The last coin portrait of the Queen, taken when she was 88, was in circulation as coinage from 2015 until her death in 2022.
The commemorative coin, released by the Australian Mint, shows the Queen from the front and features decorative details such as the outline of a horse and a corgi, in honor of her love for animals.
It also features a stylized St Edward’s Crown, as well as the royal cypher and Auxiliary Territorial Service insignia, in honor of when she became the first female royal to join the armed service.
The reverse of the coin features his son King Charles in profile.
The Royal Australian Mint created 30,000 of the 50-cent coins and 5,000 of the $5 coins; these are all collector’s items and will not enter general circulation.
Telegraph, London
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