Queen Victorias's portraits

8-12-10 Queen Victorias's portraits

British coins have always portrayed the reigning monarch. Today, I'm going to tell about the portraits of Queen Victoria, the severe-looking woman, who appears on your old English coins (see photo). You'll see that there also have been very beautiful portraits of Victoria.

During her reign, from 1837 to 1901, three main portraits followed one another on British coins:

• the young head, engraved by William Wyon, from 1838 to 1859
• the bun head, engraved by his eldest son Leonard Charles Wyon, from 1860 to 1894
• the veiled head, engraved by Thomas Brock, from 1895 to 1901

There also have been two more specific portraits:

• the portrait which appeared on florins from 1847 to 1887, a work of William Wyon
• the jubilee head, designed by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm and engraved by Leonard Charles Wyon for the queen's jubilee in 1887. This portrait raised a general disapprobation, due to the ridiculously small crown on top of the queen's head.

Victoria's portraits on British coins, in the same order as in the text

These portraits are usually surrounded with an abbreviated Latin legend, which should be read: "Victoria, Dei gratia, Brittaniarum regina, Fidei defenstrix, Indiae imperatrix". This can be translated by : Victoria, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Britains, Defender of the Faith (a title of British monarchs since the 16th century), Empress of India (concerning Victoria, from 1876).

There also were many other portraits, designed especially for British colonies and dominions.

Victoria's portraits on coins from India, Canada and Jersey

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