Altered legend with same or similar design

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Here I am not thinking of different or larger fonts, but changes to the legend. Extra words may be added, and the design may or may not be amended slightly, in order to accommodate this. I am curious to see how many modern countries have done this.

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In 1972 Trinidad and Tobago issued a special set of circulation coins, which also appeared in proof sets. These coins celebrated the tenth anniversary of independence. The same designs were used as before, except that the legend "TENTH ANNIVERSARY" appeared at the bottom of the obverse design.




Before.




After.


The images aren't great, but you get the picture. The fonts of the denominational numerals have also been changed.

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Trinidad and Tobago, 25 cents, 1975.




25 cents, 1982.  "TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE".


The Franklin Mint produced a full set of these coins.  They may have appeared only as proof sets. Does anybody know? Interestingly, some of the standard designs were changed, e.g. the 10 cents showed a hummingbird instead of a flower.




A similar set to the 1982 collector set was issued in 1983 and 1984. Apart from the $10, the designs were the same as in 1982, but without the special legend. The special designs created for the lower denominations of the 1982 set were never used on their circulation counterparts.

See: Trinidad and Tobago: 1982 set.

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The common obverse of the coins of Barbados.




Barbados celebrated its tenth anniversary of independence in 1976. The coins issued in that year showed the dates 1966 and 1976 on the obverse, in order to commemorate the anniversary. The broken tridents were somewhat longer and had been moved lower down. Also the word "BARBADOS" used less space. Do you notice any other differences?


See also: Coinage of Barbados.

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This gold collector coin of 1975, issued by Barbados to celebrate its 350th anniversary, used a similar tactic on its obverse legend.

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The Bahamas became independent on 10th July 1973. This is how the country name appeared on the coins over the years:

Year	Obverse	Legend
1966-1970	Elizabeth II	BAHAMA ISLANDS
1971-1973	Elizabeth II	COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS
1974 to date	Coat of arms	COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

1 cent, 1970.




1 cent, 1972.




1 cent, 1975.


However, some of the 5 cents and 10 cents coins of 1973 carried the legend: "THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS", as opposed to just "COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS". So far as I can tell, the former are Royal Mint products, whilst the latter are Franklin Mint products. It is hard to find a nice image of this variation, but see below.


See also: Bahamian Variations.

 

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When the UK went decimal (in stages, from 1968 to 1971), the legend on its coins included the word "NEW", to indicate that these were decimal pence, and not the old predecimal pence.  The word "NEW" appeared on the UK's decimal coins from 1968 to 1981 inclusive. From 1982 it was omitted.

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If you look at the difference in the reverses of the UK five pence with "NEW" (top) and without it (left), you will notice that various changes were made to the thistle.

1] The cross on the crown is thinner and originally came much closer to the legend than on the new version.

2] The two fleur-de-lis ornaments rising from the rim of the crown have been reduced in size on the new version.

3] The general shape of the crown is slightly different.

4] The flower of the thistle, which supports the crown, is considerably narrower on the new version.

5] On the new version, the leaves of the thistle extend further downwards than before.

6] Look at the stem of the thistle. On the new version, it is longer, thicker and more detailed than before, and the stems of the leaves start higher up the thistle stem than before.

7] On the new version, look at the shape of the leaves - top and bottom. There seem to be more prickles at the bottom of the leaves, and they are longer too, and there are also longer prickles at the left and right hand sides. On close inspection, you will see that the overall shape of the leaves has changed considerably.

8] The shape of the numeral 5 seems to be subtly different in the new version. On the old version, there is a noticeable upward tail at the right hand side of the horizontal top bar of the numeral - this has disappeared on the new version. There may be other slight differences between the numerals (width), but the images are not detailed enough for me to be sure.

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50 pence 1969.

50 pence 1982 (proof FDC version).

There were also considerable differences between the older and newer versions of the Britannia design on the reverse of the fifty pence.

1] On the older version, the trident appears closer to the rim. Its middle prong is shorter and the tow other prongs are less broad at the tip.

2] On the newer version, Britannia is holding the trident at a lower angle. This is presumably to avoid overlapping the letter "T" in the word "FIFTY".

3] On the newer version, the crest of Britannia's helmet is wider than before, and the top right-most point of the crest extends further.

4] On the older version, the bottom-most point of Britannia's helmet has a small upward curl to it. This has disappeared on the newer version.

5] On the newer version, Britannia's profile looks somewhat different and seems to be broader than before.

6] On the newer version, Britannia appears to have less hair falling onto her neck.

7] On the older version, Britannia appears to facing more to the front than on the previous version. This has the effect of making the outline of her breasts look more pronounced than on the newer version. More of her stomach is visible, as it is turned more towards us, and you can see more of how the folds of her dress fall.

8] Britannia is sitting in an apparently more "comfortable" position on the newer version, so that her thighs and knees are held higher up.

9] On the newer version, Britannia appears to have fewer folds in her dress, yet the folds at the bottom left, close to the shield, look more complex than in the older version.

10] On the older version, the two main crosses on the representation of the Union Flag on Britannia's shield run together; on the newer version, they are clearly separated by a dividing line.

11] On the newer version, the sprig Britannia is holding appears to have broader leaves. And look at the right-hand side of the sprig on the older version: there are three leaves growing together in a cluster; this threesome has disappeared on the newer version.

12] The fur on the lion's front appears to extend further to the right on the older version. And on the newer version, there is now a gap between the bottom part of the lion's front fur and its feet - though I am not sure whether they are meant to be the lion's feet or whether it is the bottom of Britannia's robe piled up on the floor.

13] On the older version, the numeral zero in the figure fifty seems to be narrower than in the newer version.

These are all the major differences I can see. There do seem to be some other minor differences, but these may simply be down to the different amounts of wear on the coins in the images.

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The word "NEW" appeared on Guernsey's decimal coins from 1968 to 1976. Whilst Guernsey dropped the word "NEW" from its coins in 1977, the only coins with "NEW" were dated 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971.  No coins dated 1972 to 1976 inclusive were struck in any form.

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Predecimal and decimal Irish coins.

When the UK went decimal, it adopted new designs for its new coinage. However, Ireland retained some old designs and simply changed the denomination.

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Some of the "NEW PENCE" of Jersey.




When "NEW" was omitted from the legends, the year was split and moved from the bottom right to the centre left and right of the coin.


See also: Milestones in the decimal coinage of Jersey.

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When New Zealand went decimal in 1967, it issued the 10 cent coin with a double denomination, to show that it was equal in value to the old shilling. However, the 5 cent coin was equal to six predecimal pence, but it wasn't given a double denomination. The 10 cents coin was the only decimal coin to receive one.




However, the word "SHILLING" was removed from the coin from 1970 onwards.


See also: The decimal coinage of New Zealand.

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The state of Rhodesia could not decide on which side of its decimal coins to place its country name.




Rhodesian coins of 1970.




5 cent coins: left, 1973; right, 1975.




5 cents, 1975.




10 cents, 1975.




20 cents, 1975.


See also: Southern Rhodesia / Rhodesia and Nyasaland / Rhodesia.

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Jersey, 20 pence, 1982.




In 1983 the year of issue was removed from the design and transferred to the obverse, in keeping with the rest of the new thematic coinage.


See also: Milestones in the decimal coinage of Jersey.