"profile his better side. The only change to the inscription was the substitution of (Edward VIII) for . The wren design was approved for the coinage of Edward's brother and successor, King George VI (1936–1952); it would stay on the coin for its remaining twenty years. Paget redesigned his obverse to include the new king's left-facing bust, and the wording was adjusted to include . The coin was struck each year from 1937. In 1949, following the independence of India, was removed from the obverse. The accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 brought a new portrait to the farthing"
"King abdicated. The obverse shows a left-facing portrait of the king (who considered this to be his best side, and consequently broke the tradition of alternating the direction in which the monarch faces on coins — some viewed this as indicating bad luck for the reign); the inscription on the obverse is . The pattern coin of Edward VIII and regular issue halfpennies of George VI and Elizabeth II feature a redesigned reverse displaying Sir Francis Drake's ship the ""Golden Hind"". George VI issue coins feature the inscription before 1949, and thereafter. Unlike the penny, halfpennies were minted throughout the"
"of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in the United States. Adjacent to the portrait is a vignette of the buildings of Parliament as they were during his premiership, flying the Canadian Red Ensign. The bird featured on the reverse is an osprey. The purple banknote was introduced on 27 June 1989 and withdrawn on 17 January 2001. The green $20 banknote has an obverse featuring Elizabeth II, the same engraving used for the $2 banknote, and a reverse featuring two common loons. The building vignette adjacent to the portrait is the Library of Parliament. The image of the loons"
"tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom (and predecessor kingdoms going back to the middle ages) almost always feature the head of the monarch. By tradition, each British monarch faces in the opposite direction of his or her predecessor; this is said to date from 1661, with Charles II turning his back on Oliver Cromwell. Hence, George VI faced left and the present Queen faces right. The only break in this tradition almost occurred in 1936 when Edward VIII, believing his left side to be superior to his right, insisted on his image facing left, as his father's"
"the direction the monarch faces with each reign, and George V had faced left, Edward believed that side more flattering. Thus, the obverse depicts the left-facing effigy of the King by Thomas Humphrey Paget inscribed . The reverse, by Kruger Gray, shows a crowned rose flanked by a thistle and shamrock, with E below the thistle and R below the shamrock, and the inscription and . King George VI's florin, produced each year between 1937 and 1951, looks very much like the one planned for his brother Edward VIII. Like on the patterns for King Edward, the words are omitted;"
"reverse design composed of a crown surmounted by a lion, with those minted after 1926 featuring a design of six oak sprigs divided by six acorns. Only a handful of Edward VIII sixpences were ever minted, and none of these entered circulation. These feature a reverse that is different again, composed of six interlinked rings, with the inscription below and part of the monarch's style inscribed above. Unusually, the profile of Edward VIII on coins faces the same way as that of his predecessor. George VI sixpences feature two different reverses, both featuring a crowned Royal Cypher. Those minted prior"
"obverse depicted Liberty ""stepping forward in ... the defense of peace as her ultimate goal"". According to art historian Cornelius Vermeule, ""Liberty is presented as the Athena of the Parthenon pediments, a powerful woman striding forward"" and states that, but for the Stars and Stripes on her shield, ""everything else about this Amazon calls to mind Greek sculpture of the period between Pheidias to Praxiteles, 450 to 350 BC."" Vermeule suggested that the flying eagle on the reverse is simply that of the 1836 Gobrecht dollar, seen flying from left to right instead of the opposite way, as on the"
"have on the obverse side a portrait of the head of Queen Elizabeth II, ""Queen Elizabeth II"", ""St. Helena • Ascension"" and the year written. Many of the commemorative coins over the years however only have written either ""St. Helena"" or ""Ascension Island"". Some of the coin reverse designs have changed since 1984. The five pence pieces issued prior to 1998 showed the Saint Helena plover (the ""wirebird"", which is the national bird of St Helena), whilst the ten pence coins issued prior to 1998 showed orchids. The following table shows the current designs: St. Helena has had a very"
"obverse and an eagle with outspread wings standing on a thunderbolt on the reverse. The eagle is somewhat reminiscent of the eagle that had consistently been a symbol on Ptolemaic coinage since the very beginning of the century, and it has been suggested that Ptolemy IV Philopator may have provided gold for this issue to act as a counterweight to the involvement of Philip V of Macedon on the side of Carthage. The victoriatus, another silver coin (Crawford 44/1), was also introduced in large quantity at the same time. It seems to have been quite separate from the denarius system"
"were taken during the rediscovery. Bronze parotia The bronze parotia (""Parotia berlepschi""), also known as the Foja parotia, Berlepsch's parotia or Berlepsch's six-wired bird-of-paradise, is a bird-of-paradise. It resembles and is often considered to be a subspecies of the Queen Carola's parotia, but it differs from the latter by having more heavily bronzed plumage and no eye ring. The specific name commemorates a 19th-century German ornithologist Hans von Berlepsch. The bronze parotia is medium-sized bird, with black and bronze-tinged upperparts, conspicuous white flank plumes, iridescent coppery-greenish breast plumes, and six flag-tipped head wires. The duller female lacks the head wires,"
"obverse of the coin depicts the Charter Oak and is based on a painting by Charles DeWolf Brownell, who had begun his work in 1855, a year before lightning felled the tree. Below the ground that surrounds the base of the tree is ; surrounding the Charter Oak are its name, and . The reverse depicts an eagle upon a rocky mound. The name of the country and the denomination of the coin surround the eagle, with to the left of the bird's legs. Thirteen stars lie between the eagle and the lettering, but are so faint as to be"
"all Britain defender of the faith) in 1953, and (Elizabeth II by the grace of God queen defender of the faith) thereafter. Farthing (British coin) The British farthing (d) coin, from ""fourthing"", was a unit of currency of one quarter of a penny, or of a pound sterling. It was minted in bronze, and replaced the earlier copper farthings. It was used during the reign of six monarchs: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II, ceasing to be legal tender in 1960. It featured two different designs on its reverse during its 100 years in"
"Edward VIII, although strictly speaking it is a ""pattern"" which would have been awaiting royal approval about the time that the king abdicated in December 1936. The king insisted that his left profile be used on the coinage instead of the right, which would have been used if he had followed the alternating tradition going back to King Charles II; the obverse has the inscription , but in a complete break from tradition Britannia was dropped from the reverse for the first time since 1672, and replaced by a sailing ship, said to represent Sir Francis Drake's ""Golden Hind"". This"
"his watch chain to the Deputy Master of the Mint, Robert Johnson, and asking for more like those. King Edward eventually gave in on the question, fearing that such designs would be unacceptable to the British people, but non-heraldic themes for the halfpenny (a sailing ship) and farthing survived. The selected design for the farthing, a wren, placed the smallest British bird on the British coin smallest in value. In an attempt to break the deadlock between King and Mint, artist Wilson Parker had prepared a series of coinage designs based on what were loosely deemed royal animals: eagle, dove,"
"seven different obverses were used. Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II each had a single obverse for farthings produced during their respective reigns. Over the long reign of Queen Victoria two different obverses were used, and the short reign of Edward VIII meant that no farthings bearing his likeness were ever issued. The farthing was first issued with the so-called ""bun head"", or ""draped bust"" of Queen Victoria on the obverse. The inscription around the bust read (abbreviated Latin: Victoria by the grace of God queen of Britain defender of the faith). This was replaced in 1895"
"and elevenpence farthing"". The purchasing power of a farthing from 1860 to its demise in 1960 ranged between 2p to 12p (in 2017 GB Pound values). The original reverse of the coin, designed by Leonard Charles Wyon, is a seated Britannia, holding a trident, with the word above. Issues before 1895 also feature a lighthouse to Britannia's left and a ship to her right. Various minor adjustments to the level of the sea depicted around Britannia, and the angle of her trident were also made over the years. Some issues feature toothed edges, while others feature beading. Over the years,"
"1663 and 1684, with the elephant appearing on some coins each year from 1663 to 1665 and 1668, and the elephant and castle on some coins from 1674 onward. The elephant, with or without the castle, symbolises the Royal African Company (founded in 1660), whose activities on the Guinea Coast of Africa resulted in the importation of much gold into England. The obverse and reverse of this coin were designed by John Roettier (1631–). The obverse showed a fine right-facing bust of the king wearing a laurel wreath (amended several times during the reign), surrounded by the legend (""Charles II"
"front of the note is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The note has a blue background. On the back is a bird called a kea, a parrot. The kea is perched on a mountain lilly, which has large waxy flowers. There also is a watermark of Captain James Cook. There is little difference in the design except the portrait of the Queen and added colors. The notes were completely re-designed in the 1990s. This series uses the same designs as the current polymer series. The main differences are the notes are cotton-based not polymer. Another design element is a"
"3 February 2009, the BBC reported that the flag had been inadvertently flown upside-down by the UK government at the signing of a trade agreement with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. The error had been spotted by readers of the BBC news website who had contacted the BBC after seeing a photograph of the event. In 1603, James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones (as James I), thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland (which remained separate states) in a personal union. On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England"
"Australian monarch. Three were featured: George V, George VI and Elizabeth II. All of the pennies featuring George VI and Elizabeth II had a kangaroo on the reverse except for the 1965 penny it featured a Roman. The kangaroo image was on the Australian half-penny and has since been included on the dollar coin and the bullion silver kangaroo. During the George VI era, coins minted at Melbourne had a dot at the end of the word ""PENNY"", while coins from Perth did not have a dot. This continued through the end of the coin's lifetime. The 1930 penny is"
"Bronze parotia The bronze parotia (""Parotia berlepschi""), also known as the Foja parotia, Berlepsch's parotia or Berlepsch's six-wired bird-of-paradise, is a bird-of-paradise. It resembles and is often considered to be a subspecies of the Queen Carola's parotia, but it differs from the latter by having more heavily bronzed plumage and no eye ring. The specific name commemorates a 19th-century German ornithologist Hans von Berlepsch. The bronze parotia is medium-sized bird, with black and bronze-tinged upperparts, conspicuous white flank plumes, iridescent coppery-greenish breast plumes, and six flag-tipped head wires. The duller female lacks the head wires, has finely dark-barred whitish underparts,"
"II medal is tombac (a copper-zinc alloy) A gilded copper version was introduced in 2008. The King George VI medal has the uncrowned coinage head of King George VI, facing left, with the inscription GEORGIVS VI D: G: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF around the edge. The Queen Elizabeth II medal has the uncrowned coinage head of Queen Elizabeth II, facing right, with the inscription around the edge ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA with the word CANADA at the bottom. The reverse of the medal has a naval crown, three maple leaves and an eagle representing the navy, army and"
"William de Saulles. The farthing continued to display it until the year of the Queen's death, 1901. De Saulles also revised the reverse; the most significant change was the deletion of the lighthouse and ship on either side of Britannia; they would never return to the farthing. The inscription on the Old Head farthing was . Beginning in 1897, farthings were issued artificially darkened; this was to avoid confusion of bright new farthings with the half sovereign; the bronze farthing and the gold piece were the same size. The farthing of King Edward VII (1901–1910), Victoria's son and successor, was"
"and his third wife Jane Seymour. The animals are: the lion of England, the Seymour lion, the Royal dragon, the black bull of Clarence, the yale of Beaufort, the white lion of Mortimer, the White Greyhound of Richmond, the Tudor dragon, the Seymour panther and the Seymour unicorn. The set of Queens Beasts at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II replaced the three Seymour items and one of the dragons by the griffin of Edward III, the horse of Hanover, the falcon of the Plantagenets and the unicorn of Scotland. Since the reign of King George II, no monarch has"
"English Three Farthing coin The silver three-farthing (d) coin was introduced in Queen Elizabeth I's third and fourth coinages (1561-1582), as part of a plan to produce large quantities of coins of varying denominations and high metal content. The obverse shows a left-facing bust of the queen, with a rose behind her and the legend – Elizabeth, by the grace of God a rose without a thorn – while the reverse shows the royal arms with the date above the arms and a mint mark at the beginning of the legend reading – City of London, the Tower Mint. The"
"this time, though the earliest surviving impression (kept in the British Museum) is from 1352. The seal depicted a generic bird with a plant sprig in its beak, together with a scroll inscribed (in shaky letters) ""JOHIS"" - an abbreviation for ""Johannis"", Latin for ""of John"". The bird was almost certainly intended to be an eagle, the symbol of John the Evangelist, who was both the namesake and the patron saint of King John. The plant sprig is interpreted as broom (""planta genista"" in Latin), a badge of the Plantagenet dynasty. Also visible on the seal is a star and"
"farthings had an inscription ""a subsidiary coinage""plus the date on the edge rather than on the reverse. For the reign of king James II, the copper-plugged tin farthings continued to be produced, with examples dated in all years between 1684 and 1687. The obverse had a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription ""James the Second"" — while the reverse showed the left-facing seated Britannia, with the inscription , and the inscription and the date on the edge of the coin. Tin farthings continued to be produced for the first few years of the joint reign of William III"
"Unlike the Lion of England, this beast is uncrowned. From the end of the 16th century, two unicorns were adopted as the supporters of the Scottish Royal Arms. In 1603, the crown of England passed to James VI of Scotland, who then became James I of England. He took as supporters of his Royal Arms a crowned lion of England and one of his Scottish unicorns. The unicorn holds a shield showing the Royal Arms of Scotland, a lion ramping in a royal tressure, adorned with fleur-de-lis. The griffin of Edward III Queen's Beast is an ancient mythical beast. It"
"and sixth primaries. It is very similar to the rock partridge (""Alectoris graeca"") with which it has been lumped in the past but is browner on the back and has a yellowish tinge to the foreneck. The sharply defined gorget distinguishes this species from the red-legged partridge which has the black collar breaking into dark streaks near the breast. Their song is a noisy ""chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar"" from which the name is derived. The Barbary partridge (""Alectoris barbara"") has a reddish-brown rather than black collar with a grey throat and face with a chestnut crown. Other common names of this bird include"
"two birds. The group of two birds, presumably an adult pair, can be identified as corvids, perhaps ravens, the family of five as swans and cygnets. The two sets of birds seem to invoke opposites: birds of water versus birds of the air; white ranged against black, fecundity as opposed to death (implied by the predatory character of ravens). Perhaps, in the mind of the Bronze Age inhabitants, the two sets of birds denoted a fable of opposites between good and bad. The flesh-hook was originally linked by pieces of oak shaft, only one fragment of which remains extant. The"
"of Robert. Other older English names for the bird include ""ruddock"" and ""robinet"". In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was frequently called the ""English robin"". Dutch ""roodborstje"", French ""rouge-gorge"", German ""Rotkehlchen"", Italian ""pettirosso"" and Spanish ""petirrojo"" all refer to the distinctively coloured front. The robin belongs to a group of mainly insectivorous birds that have been variously assigned to the thrushes or ""flycatchers"", depending on how these groups were perceived taxonomically. Eventually, the flycatcher-thrush assemblage was re-analysed and the genus ""Erithacus"" assigned to a group of thrush-like true flycatchers, the tribe Saxicolini, that also includes the"
"be his better side, and consequently broke the tradition of alternating the direction in which the monarch faces on coins — some viewed this as indicating bad luck for the reign); the inscription on the obverse is . George VI issue coins feature the inscription before 1949, and thereafter. Pennies were rarely minted during the early reign of Elizabeth II, but those minted for the coronation in 1953 feature the inscription . Regular minting of pennies was resumed in 1961. Pennies minted after this date bear the inscription . Note: The mintage figures where ""H"" or ""KN"" follows the year"
"king's right-facing bust, with the inscription . The farthings of Edward's son and successor, King George V, resulted in a new left-facing portrait by Sir Bertram Mackennal and the continuation of the Britannia design. Farthings bearing King George's portrait were produced every year of his reign but 1910 and 1936. Other than substituting (George V) for , no change was made to the inscription. In 1917, the Mint ceased to darken farthings as the half sovereign was no longer being minted. In common with the penny and halfpenny, the King's head was made slightly smaller in 1926. The depiction of"