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Change is in your pocket

11 - 04 - 2008
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Felix Cohen (London, oD): Change is afoot, both here and across the Pond. Except more literally here. The Royal Mint has announced the introduction of new coins designed by Welsh designer Matthew Dent (more on his Welshness shortly).

Meanwhile, in the States, the new $5 bill is soon to be launched. It's so ugly I don't even want to put it in this article, but you can see it here. The dollar bill has always been something of an accessibility problem; people with poor sight find it hard to differentiate between the notes, which are not significantly differently sized or coloured (unlike the wonderfully accessible and ornate British notes). So the addition of a big, ugly, Helvetica numeral in the bottom right corner probably does help somewhat, but at the expense of eye-bleeding ugliness. (nota bene: I'm not a Helvetica hater)

Anyway, back to the British coinage, which is a numismatic wonder. What you may not be able to see from the image above is that the coins, when arranged just-so, form the Royal Arms.

Coins in Royal Arms

Which is stunning; and a very modern, precise design for the Mint to have suggested. The shield of the Royal Arms, however, seems to be a surprising choice for a Welsh designer, as it leaves out any Welsh emblematics (for historical reasons): covering instead, clockwise from bottom left, the harp of Ireland, the 3 lions passant of England (also in the bottom right) and the Scottish Lion Rampant. No leeks, no Dragons.

Now, I'm just a design nut, so when Anthony first suggested to me that there is something more deeply significant here, I was nonplussed. Reflecting on the design later, though, I can see it. The fragmentation of the Royal Shield across the new coinage (which one imagines will be in service for at least a few years) is rather symptomatic of a devolved, parliamentarily separated UK. Even though the £1 coin, the most valuable of the collection, shows the complete shield, each other coin only shows fragments of our country's identity.It's emblematic, therefore, not so much of a United Kingdom, but of the government's struggle to come to terms with what Britishness means; a citizens summit sans Northern Ireland, a new coinage sans the Welsh, though of course never ignoring the Scots, who hold Labour's future in their hands. Gordon's Britain is like these coins; from a distance, it forms a lovely jigsaw puzzle, seen close up, the pieces don't fit and every edge has gaps.

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Gareth Young (Brighton) (not verified) said:

Fri, 2008-04-11 11:43

From a purely aesthetic point of view I think they look great. But there is a certain irony in the symbolism of the United Kingdom's coinage. I expect the two pound coin will have a bloody big Union Flag on it, with Gordon Brown's head on the reverse side.

The Yanks disparagingly refer to Canadian notes as monopoly money.

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Michael Langstrom (not verified) said:

Fri, 2008-04-11 12:10

A clever observation!

"...the symbolism of the United Kingdom’s coinage. I expect the two pound coin will have a bloody big Union Flag on it, with Gordon Brown’s head on the reverse side."

All I can say is Ha ha ha ha ha ha ... ROTFL!!!

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David (not verified) said:

Fri, 2008-04-11 16:28

As I argued in my deconstructionist critique of the new coinage, there are (at least) two ways you can read them: 1) as - literally - emblematic of the break up and fragmentation of the UK in a process of change that does not yet 'add up' or equate to the old / desired unity (the 88p of the six smaller (denomi)nations not adding up mathematically to the 'oneness' of the pound on which the entirety of the crest is figured); or 2) as indeed symbolising the necessity and strength of the Union, as none of the separate 'pieces' that partially represent the constituent parts of the UK are complete until they are put together into the image of the (re)united kingdom.

Either way, it's a bit ironic that a collection of coins that's meant to celebrate the United Kingdom causes so much controversy and dissatisfaction in every part of it! Equally, I wonder if the Mint have realised that they've probably started off a world-wide craze to collect all seven coins with the same year on them, which will doubtless see millions of the things leaving the country in the hands of delighted tourists, or forever rotting in the coin collections and piggy banks of the 'nation'. Well, at least it'll keep the Mint busy pumping out the things. Oh yes, it's in Wales, isn't it? That'll guarantee steady employment for a while - maybe that's the real Welsh connection!

David, aka Britology Watch

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Helen (not verified) said:

Sat, 2008-04-12 21:07

It would be worth signing the e-petitions just to see what kind of response you receive once they have closed ;o) (the Government emails you with a response, outlining what action they will take or explaining why no action would be needed.) At least these petitions highlight that these coins were not the best choice out of 4,000 competition entries!

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Helen (not verified) said:

Sun, 2008-04-13 01:38

http://search.petitions.pm.gov.uk/kbroker/number10/petitions/search.lsim?ha=1157&sc=number10&qt=new+coins

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Phill (not verified) said:

Mon, 2008-04-14 16:45

From a purely historical point of view, it's leopards that form the Her Majesty's coat-of-arms, not lions. Edward I made this addition.

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