Alice Lilley
Australian commemorative coins depicting Elizabeth II have been described as a “monstrosity”.
Two coins, released by the Royal Australian Mint to mark the centenary of the late Queen’s birth, were criticised for depicting her as “the Wicked Witch of the West”.
The late Queen featured on British and Australian coins for the duration of her reign, but her image was always shown in profile, whereas the latest commemoration in silver chose to feature a full portrait.
Richard Fitzwilliam, a royal commentator, said the portrait of the monarch looked “grotesque” and more like “the Wicked Witch of the West”.
The $5 and 50¢ silver collectable coins were made to celebrate 100 years since the monarch’s birth in 1926, and were released in an online ballot that closed this week.
Responding to the criticism, the Royal Australian Mint admitted that coin images “don’t always capture the full beauty of a design once it’s etched in metal”.
Fitzwilliam said that Elizabeth’s coin portraits were “always dignified” – unlike the new apparition.
Both of the new Australian coins, which depict Elizabeth later in life, were designed by Alex Stokic, an artist at the Royal Australian Mint.
Social media users added to criticism of the monarch’s portrait, commenting: “That’s got to be the most unpleasant portrait on a coin.”
Another added: “The Queen looked nothing like that”.
The new coins have drawn comparisons to various characters including Mrs Doubtfire, the fictional housekeeper played by the late Robin Williams in the comedy film of the same name.
Elizabeth II was also the Queen of Australia, but Fitzwilliam suggested that “if the Queen had resembled his monstrosity, Australia would have been a republic years ago”.
In 2024, another metal depiction of the late Queen faced criticism for not resembling the monarch.
A bronze statue of the Queen was added to Northern Ireland’s Antrim Castle Gardens, where there was already a sculpture of Prince Phillip.
Residents claimed it looked nothing like her, with one suggesting: “Whoever signed that off needs their eyes tested. It’s not good. I would take it away”.
The Queen sat for five different coinage portraits over her 70-year reign.
Elizabeth II sat four times for Arnold Machin, who created the Machin head in profile used on British postage stamps since 1968 and on several coins.
Fitzwilliam described the Machin head as “one of the world’s most reproduced images and one of the best known”.
The monarch was always depicted on currency looking to the right, in keeping with the tradition that each successive monarch would look in the opposite direction to their predecessor. Both King George VI and King Charles III face to the left on their coinage portrait.
The Queen’s last coin portrait, captured at the age of 88, was in circulation as currency from 2015 to her death in 2022.
The commemorative coin released by the Australian mint shows the Queen from the front, and features decorative details such as outlines of a horse and a corgi, in honour of her love for the animals.
It also features her royal cypher, with a stylised St Edward’s Crown, and the Auxiliary Territorial Service emblem, in honour of her time as the first female royal to join the armed service.
On the back of the coin is her son, King Charles, in profile.
The Royal Australian Mint created 30,000 of the 50¢ coins and 5000 of the $5, all of which are collector’s items and will not enter general circulation.
Telegraph, London
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