All you need to know about Royal Cyphers

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

Queen Elizabeth II Royal Cypher

A royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country’s reigning King or Queen. Often, royal cyphers consist of the initials of a monarch’s name and title, sometimes interlocking, and with a crown sat above.

Royal cyphers usually appear on letter boxes, government buildings and State documents. In Britain, they are also often used on stamps. The most recognisable one being Queen Elizabeth II’s, which is her initial ‘E’, with the initial ‘R’ for Regina, and the Roman numerals ‘II’ sat in between. In this blog, we explore all you need to know about royal cyphers…

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The Changing Faces of Coin Portraiture

Posted on by Emma Wilde
coin portraiture

 

In an age filled with television, social media and all of the technology we could ask for, it’s hard to imagine a time where people couldn’t ‘virtually’ see each other, including their own Monarch or leader.

However, centuries ago most people would have only seen the face of their leader on a coin, with the obverse side depicting the image of a monarch or leader for thousands of years. We’ll be taking a look back at coin portraiture throughout the ages, and how dramatically this has changed.

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Q&A with Coin Designer Jody Clark

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

Q&A with coin designer Jody Clark

The 2023 King Charles III Greatest Monarchs Gold Sovereign Series features a portrait of King Charles III by artist Jody Clark. Jody Clark also designed the Fifth (and final) Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II which appeared on all of her British coinage from mid-2015 to last year.

Jody has created some incredible designs for Hattons of London, so we decided to speak to him about his creative journey and what it was like to design this important gold sovereign ‘first’ series. Here is what he had to say….

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Dissecting the Greatest Monarchs Prestige Set

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

Our latest release; the 2023 King Charles III Greatest Monarchs Gold Sovereign Range, celebrates the regnal milestones of some of Britain’s greatest monarchs. For our new king, these gold sovereign coins feature a portrait King Charles III, paying tribute to some of the greatest British monarchs who have gone before him.

Not only that, the coins in this range all have features that will give them great appeal to those interested in the history of Britain, and also to sovereign collectors the world over. In this blog, we will be dissecting the coin designs of this remarkable range…

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The 2023 King Charles III Greatest Monarchs Gold Sovereign Range

Posted on by Vanessa Brockwell

Britain has a new monarch. This is something that no-one for generations has written. Not for 70 years has this been uttered and it feels remarkable to be able to declare to you that there are now coins bearing the portrait of ‘our King’. While the world debates what sort of monarch King Charles III will be, the simple truth is that he will in many ways be different to his mother. It’s a different world after all: his accession was announced in an instant on social media, and his accession ceremony was broadcast live to hundreds of millions of households around the globe.

The most important thing for all of us, is that with the accession of King Charles III, a thousand years of Britain’s monarchy endures. This is a significant moment in the history of our nation, therefore, a new series of sovereign coins have been released, which pays tribute to some of Britain’s greatest ever monarchs. Introducing the 2023 King Charles III Greatest Monarchs Gold Sovereign Range, and in particular, the one-eighth sovereign…

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