The death of Queen Elizabeth II will result in significant change to currencies
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: The untimely death of Queen Elizabeth II has ushered in a new era, and Britain as a whole will experience substantial change, particularly in their currency. For the entire 70-year period that Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne, her image has featured on the currency.
Since 1952, when she took the throne, the Queen's image has appeared on the majority of British currency, coins, and other items. The most recent image of the Queen on coins is the fifth portrait, which was designed by Jody Clark. It depicts the Queen in a side profile wearing a crown and drop earrings, and was officially launched in 2015. The design can be found on £1, £2, 50, 20- and even copper-colored pennies. Similarly, since the 1990s, the Queen has featured on British notes.
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Once King Charles takes the throne, the British currency will be changed. After the late King George VI died, a similar transformation had taken place. The designs that are currently in use will be replaced with new one that represents the new monarch.
These changes happen gradually to give time to the citizens to use their money and change accordingly. When the Queen came to power, coins bearing her father's portrait persisted in use for over 20 years after his passing but when decimalization was implemented in 1971, they were discontinued.
King Charles III will soon appear in the new-style portraits on the currency, but unlike the Queen, he will be facing the opposite way. Her portrait appears to the right on all current coins, but Charles' will turn his head to the left due to a custom that requires the monarch's face to shift with each new heir.
Soon, the coins with the picture of the Queen will no longer be produced at all, making them difficult to find. Copies will become more and more desirable to collectors because they are going to become increasingly rare over time and the new designs will dominate sales and manufacture. Rarer coins and notes can occasionally sell for hundreds of pounds more than face value at auction if the right bidder is interested.
During her reign, the Queen supervised the Commonwealth, therefore many other nations' currencies also included a picture of her. For instance, the Queen can be seen on the $20 Canadian bill and the $1 Australian coin. Now that Charles is in charge, these designs will need to be changed, much like coins and notes in Britain. The Coin Expert predicts that the process of modification will take longer outside of Britain. Since different countries have different rules, the new design will be easier to implement in the country where it was first established.
