Gibraltar issues collectors coins without Queen's portrait

Started by eurocoin, May 08, 2020, 10:34:12 AM

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eurocoin

Gibraltar has released a collectors coin that does not feature the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty's name is included on the obverse along with the coat of arms of Gibraltar. As far as I know it has not happened before during her reign that Gibraltar has issued a coin without Queen Elizabeth's portrait.

Update: The second time apparently, overlooked this one.


Alan71

What's a half crown?  In pre-decimal times it was 12.5p, but I'm assuming it's now £2.50 (as Crown-sized coins usually have a nominal value of £5, and this is a half crown).  Or has that never been specified?

eurocoin

Quote from: Alan71 on May 08, 2020, 01:44:17 PM
What's a half crown?  In pre-decimal times it was 12.5p, but I'm assuming it's now £2.50 (as Crown-sized coins usually have a nominal value of £5, and this is a half crown).  Or has that never been specified?

A half crown of Gibraltar equals 12.5p. The Gibraltar Coinage Act mentions that a full crown is 25p.

I have received information that also further collectors coins of Gibraltar, to commemorate the Rolling Stones, will have the coat of arms of Gibraltar on their obverse instead of the Queen's portrait.

eurocoin

Many questions were recently asked in the Parliament of Gibraltar about the absence of Queen Elizabeth II's portrait on the obverse of some of their collectors coins. The replies to them offered an interesting insight into why it wasn't used. Apparently there are 2 kinds of situations in which the portrait is not being used.

Firstly coins that carry the Queen's portrait need to have a relevant connection to the government that issues them. So coins like the ones commemorating the Rolling Stones have no connection to Gibraltar and therefore may not depict her portrait. If something is not likely to receive approval by the Queen then it is not put to the Queen. So it is not that they say to Her Majesty, 'Do you approve this?' and if she says no, then they say 'Okay, well then we will do it without your effigy and do a crest instead.' This connection requirement only exists for the British Overseas Territories. It does not exist for countries of the Commonwealth. The connection requirement has been established in agreement with Her Majesty the Queen. She only wants her portrait on coins of the British Overseas Territory that have an actual connection to the particular territory.

Secondly approval of Her Majesty the Queen takes 4-5 months. If mints want to release a Gibraltar coin with her portrait on it they need approval from the Gibraltar National Mint, the Minister for Economic Development etc., the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, the Governor of Gibraltar, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Her Majesty the Queen, in this order.

If the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is not being used, approval for the release of the coin is only necessary of the Gibraltar National Mint, the Minister for Economic Development etc. and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar for example issued coins for the passing of Dame Vera Lynn. If the entire process would have taken 4-5 months demand for such coin would have been much lower by then. So they want to release it quickly and therefore do not use Queen Elizabeth II's portrait. In their words: "The coin market is highly competitive and the ones who comes up with a theme first gets the lion's share of the market and the people who arrive late have a problem in selling their coins".

Alan71

It's interesting that this rule only applies to the British Overseas Territories.  The Crown Dependencies are therefore not bound by this rule, hence Jersey's Red Arrows £2, Guernsey's Pantomime 50p series and Isle of Man's Peter Pan set (etc).  It puts the Overseas Territories at a disadvantage then if they can't use the Queen's portrait on their frivolous coin issues, particularly if some people may not be interested in coins without it.

eurocoin

Quote from: Alan71 on July 19, 2020, 07:18:49 PM
It's interesting that this rule only applies to the British Overseas Territories.  The Crown Dependencies are therefore not bound by this rule, hence Jersey's Red Arrows £2, Guernsey's Pantomime 50p series and Isle of Man's Peter Pan set (etc).  It puts the Overseas Territories at a disadvantage then if they can't use the Queen's portrait on their frivolous coin issues, particularly if some people may not be interested in coins without it.

I should have highlighted this, but forgot. Although I am not 100% sure I am almost certain that the crown dependencies too have to adhere to the rule of there having to be a connection between the theme and the issuer. There is a disadvantage against the countries of the Commonwealth.

However as was also pointed out in the Parliament of Gibraltar, not always do they strictly adhere to this rule. One of the members of the parliament came up with the example of the Guess How Much I Love You 50p coin. The book had no connection to Gibraltar yet the coin had the Queen's portrait on its obverse. Members of the parliament did not undersand that the government decided to use the portrait on it but struggled even more to understand why Queen Elizabeth II apparently approved the coin's issuance. I believe the latter suggests that the palace mainly leaves the responsibility to adhere to the rule with the governments of the British overseas territories.

There are more examples of this, think for example about the ape 50p coins. There are no gorillas or baboons in Gibraltar.

<k>

Quote from: eurocoin on July 19, 2020, 08:45:04 PM
There are more examples of this, think for example about the ape 50p coins. There are no gorillas or baboons in Gibraltar.

The Barbary ape colony in Gibraltar is famous. Fact! They are the only indigenous apes monkeys in Europe.

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.