[jambutty]

I’m a bit surprised that the patriots on here haven’t had anything to say about Britannia being sacked from the 50 pence piece. It has been reported that Gordon Brown is in favour of ditching Britannia in favour of some other symbol. I understand that this will happen in April but the new design has not been published – yet.

According to the font of all knowledge – Wikipedia – Britannia in one form or another has appeared on a British coin since Hadrian was building his wall. Actually it was probably a Roman coin issued by Hadrian but that is splitting hairs.

Quote
Early portraits of the goddess depict Britannia as a beautiful young woman, wearing the helmet of a Centurion, and wrapped in a white garment with her right breast exposed. She is usually shown seated on a rock, holding a spear, and with a spiked shield propped beside her. Sometimes she holds a standard and leans on the shield. On another range of coinage, she is seated on a globe above waves:
Unquote.

Britannia first appeared on a British coin – the farthing and the halfpenny – in 1672. Then between 1797 and 1970 she adorned the reverse of the humble pre decimal penny and on the post decimal 50 pence piece since 1969.

Since 1987 you could buy a British Bullion Gold Coin, at a face value of £100. I suppose that it will be much more today. The latest price of gold is around $925 per Troy ounce, although it fluctuates quite wildly. A few days ago it was $880 and a few days before that it was up at $920.

However the British Bullion Gold Coin is not minted in pure gold (24 carat) but a mixture of 24 carat gold (91.7%) and silver (8.3%)

All information cribbed from Wikipedia.

Sorry! I’ve drifted off the main subject and that is the demise of Britannia on our coins.

That is absolutely diabolical. Britannia is a symbol of Britishness. This is just another sly move to blend us in with the Euro.

I seem to remember that one of our coins had a circle of hands on the reverse. I have it in my head that is was the 50 pence but it couldn’t have been otherwise it would have been mentioned somewhere.