1992 UK pound bird designs rejected by Chancellor of the Exchequer

[<k>]

Avocet, kite, osprey, tern.

In 1992 the Royal Mint Advisory Committee considered the following designs for the new series of pound designs:-

1] England: Avocet
2] Wales: Red Kite
3] Scotland: Osprey
4] Northern Ireland: Roseate Tern

Norman Lamont, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, rejected the designs, reportedly because he did not like birds. Marina Warner resigned from the RMAC in protest at Lamont's decision. Later, after resigning as Chancellor, Mr Lamont went on to tell the press, that he too, like Kenneth Clarke (who succeeded him as Chancellor), was a bird lover.

As a result we got Norman Sillman's designs, including his Celtic Cross of 1996, with a pimpernel flower in centre surrounded by an ancient torc, representing Northern Ireland, and his Welsh dragon of 1995. Given these classics, I can't be too dismayed at the loss of the bird designs. Unfortunately I have never seen the bird designs, if any were indeed prepared, and probably never will, as the documents will probably not be made public until 2022. So, I don't know whether I would have preferred them to Sillman's heraldic/symbolic series.

Yet another episode in the battle between representational designs and heraldic/symbolic/allegorical ones.

[<k>]

Some months ago, our moderator eurocoin contacted the Royal Mint Museum, to find out more about this story. I then wrote up the story for Coin News, making clear that it was based on eurocoin's research, and it appeared in the October 2016 edition. Below, I will reproduce the article, with images.

[<k>]

The pound coin and the rejected bird designs.

The first modern circulation pound coin was issued in 1983, with a reverse design showing the Royal Arms, to represent the UK as a whole. The reverse design was then changed every year to celebrate each constituent country in turn: a thistle for Scotland, a leek for Wales, a flax plant for Northern Ireland, and an oak tree for England. Each stylised plant was depicted within a royal diadem. These plants had traditionally appeared in various forms on different coins, though previously acorns had been depicted, rather than an oak tree. In 1988 the shield of the Royal Arms represented the UK, but the national designs of the prior four years were then simply repeated.

A Royal Mint document of 1992 states:

"From 1994 it has been agreed not to revert to the existing four-year series but to explore the possibility of creating an entirely new series of reverse designs to represent the four constituent part of the United Kingdom. Selected artists are now being invited to submit ideas for such a series."

The artists were informed that the designs should have a common theme and a unified style but that they were allowed a free hand in the choice of subject matter. They were, however, advised to avoid sectarian representations for Northern Ireland.

In an edition of "The Medal" magazine dated 1992, Marina Warner revealed that there were two finalists in the competition. "Designer 9", she wrote, "produced an elegant series of sketches that were in positive danger of producing pleasure". They featured the avocet for England, the osprey for Scotland, the red kite for Wales, and the roseate tern for Northern Ireland. "Each had been close to extinction earlier in the century but had made a successful breeding return". Designer 8, meanwhile, "submitted a series of ploddingly traditional heraldic schemes".

[<k>]

In April 1993, when John Major's Conservative government was still in power, Coin News reported the following:

"Norman Lamont, Chancellor of the Exchequer and ex officio Master of the Royal Mint, has caused dissent amongst the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, whose President is the Duke of Edinburgh, by using his official prerogative to override a decision made by the Committee. Normally the Committee recommends designs for new coins to the Chancellor, who in turn makes a formal submission to Her Majesty the Queen. However, recently a competition held to find new designs for a new series of one pound coins produced a choice between a traditional heraldic approach and symbolic types featuring birds of the British Isles.  At the meeting held on February 10 1993, Mr Anthony Nelson, Economic Secretary at the Treasury, told members  that Mr Lamont 'just does not like birds' and was consequently opting for the heraldic design and was taking the unusual step of reaching a decision without waiting for the Committee's recommendation.

"One member of the committee, the writer Marina Warner, has resigned, accusing the Chancellor and his officials of placing the Committee's work 'in an impasse because their objections seemed not merely to be directed at the birds, but at the idea of innovation itself in the iconography of the coinage' "

In May 1993 Mr Lamont was replaced as Chancellor by Kenneth Clarke. In an interview, Mr Clarke revealed coincidentally that he was an amateur ornithologist. Later that year, in a Daily Telegraph article about bird-loving politicians, Mr Lamont maintained that he too was a bird-lover. The Telegraph and the general public were no doubt unaware of the aforementioned numismatic controversy. However, Marina Warner's suggestion that it was the idea of innovation in the iconography, rather than birds themselves, that Mr Lamont (now Lord Lamont) disliked, rings true. Lord Lamont is a Conservative, and by definition Conservatives revere tradition and dislike change, hence his rejection of the bird designs. Readers who remember the wren farthing may wonder what all the fuss was about, but in fact the wren was the only design accepted out of a proposed full wildlife set that was rejected as too radically modern for Britain.

[<k>]

The Royal Mint documents do not reveal the details of the discussions that went on behind the scenes, stating only that there was "a full and frank discussion", which in plain English translates as: "There was a huge argument!" The documents do reveal, however, that Mary Milner Dickens created the rejected bird designs. She had already designed the reverse of the 1992 50p, commemorating Britain's presidency of the European Council of Ministers, and she later created the reverse designs for the 50p of 2000, commemorating the Public Libraries Act, and for the 5 pound coin commemorating the death centenary of Queen Victoria.

Her first sketches for the competition show each national bird perched on a crown. The bird representing England appears to be a crow, but this was changed to an avocet in subsequent sketches. Later sketches show each bird sitting on a national plant (oak branch, thistles, leek and flax respectively), and another variation shows the same designs but with a crown separating the words "ONE POUND ". Next the birds are shown in flight, with one version of the design showing each bird above a map of a pertinent national river, while the other version shows essentially the same design but with the rivers replaced by wild flowers, which are too small for me to identify. Both versions this time depict a relevant national crown for each design, rather than simply portraying St Edward's crown in each case.

[<k>]

First sketches for England and Scotland.

[<k>]

Next sketches, for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

From this point on, an avocet represents England, instead of the original crow.

[<k>]

Birds with crown.

[<k>]

More variations: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

[<k>]

Birds above national rivers.

[<k>]

Birds with national plants / flowers.

[<k>]

Which of these beautiful bird designs the Royal Advisory Committee would eventually have chosen, I do not know. Norman Lamont's intervention meant that the heraldic designs of the runner-up, the veteran designer Norman Sillman, were issued instead. "Plodding" they were not: I greatly admire his beautiful Northern Irish design, of a Celtic cross overlaid with two torques. This was not a traditional design but was Mr Sillman's imaginative approach to avoiding sectarian symbols. As the 1990s progressed, the designs of the commemorative 50p and 2 pound coins, by contrast, became more boldly innovative. Between 2004 and 2007 a new series of pound coins was issued, whose fine reverse designs, by Edwina Ellis, were distinctly non-heraldic and featured national bridges. Modernity had come to the pound coin at last, and nobody objected. Nonetheless, when Matthew Dent's new UK design series was revealed in 2008, heraldry triumphed once more. How long before we breach the final frontier: a modern thematic coin series for the UK?

[<k>]

England, raven.




Scotland, osprey.



Mary Milner Dickens, 1991.

Recently released documents show that Mary Milner Dickens originally sent in only two designs for the competition: birds representing England and Scotland. She told the Royal Mint that she had only had time to do two designs, but if the Mint liked them, she would add the other two designs (for Wales and Northern Ireland). She explained that she had chosen a raven to represent England. (Not a crow, as I originally thought, but the two species are part of the same family). The accompanying documentation shows that she intended to do a puffin for Wales, but ultimately she did a design of a red kite instead.

[Figleaf]

An extremely good contribution to this site, <k>. Thank you and those who assisted you. I am especially pleased with the line of thought concerning innovation colliding with conservatism. It is a story that has broader meaning. I hope it may inspire you and others when thinking about design. May there be many more examples of such teamwork. I am gratified that the site has served as a meeting place that produced such excellent results.

Peter

[<k>]

Teamwork, synergy.    That's true enough. Eurocoin was inspired by what he saw on the board, so he started his own investigations. I thought the Mint would never reveal the designs so didn't even ask, but eurocoin dared to think differently and did all the research.