King Charles III: scope of his reign; speculation about the Commonwealth Realms

[Big_M]

I wonder which countries/territories might consider replacing the effigy of the monarch from the coins with their coats of arms.

My bets are: Solomon Islands, Belize and Cayman Islands.

[eurocoin]

Absolutely Canada. Some 600 pages of the Royal Canadian Mint, containing preparations for a change of monarch were released a few years ago. They were considering the option of there not being a portrait on the obverse of the coins anymore, with it being unknown what the final decision was.

[FosseWay]

It will be interesting to see what Canada goes for, in that case. As far as I can think of, it's very rare for a monarchy to have neither a portrait of the monarch nor some kind of monarch-specific symbolism (such as a royal cypher) in its place.

[quaziright]

Yes, I'm curious to see as well. Perhaps the Canadian coat of arms somewhere has a reference in its design to the current monarch that gets a refresh. It's possible they could do the coat of arms and simply have text along the rim with reference to Charles

[Big_M]

It will be interesting to see what Canada goes for, in that case. As far as I can think of, it's very rare for a monarchy to have neither a portrait of the monarch nor some kind of monarch-specific symbolism (such as a royal cypher) in its place.

But that's not the case for Jamaica, the Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, had not been the case for Barbados before it became a republic last year. They all use their coats of arms or national symbols.

[FosseWay]

But that's not the case for Jamaica, the Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, had not been the case for Barbados before it became a republic last year. They all use their coats of arms or national symbols.

That's true - I'd presumed that those countries were republics but clearly not.

[<k>]

The portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II appeared on billions of coin throughout the world.

It is any unlikely that any other person will ever equal her record in that respect.


The Queen was monarch of:

1] The United Kingdom.

2] The Crown Dependencies.

3] The British Overseas Territories.

4] The Commonwealth Realms.


The Queen also had a role as the Head of the Commonwealth.


See: The Worldwide Usage of the Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.

King Charles III has now inherited the throne from Queen Elizabeth II.

The structure of the countries and territories that he reigns over remains as shown above.

No coins have yet been minted for his reign.

Here I will open a space to discuss his place within the wider numismatic world.

[<k>]

A few years ago, the Queen had asked that the then Prince Charles should be accepted as the next Head of the Commonwealth after her death. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Commonwealth acceded to her wish, and any thought of a democratic election for the post was banished.

King Charles III is therefore now Head of the Commonwealth.

Even during the last days of the Queen, the world was changing.

On 30 November 1966, Barbados became an independent state and a Commonwealth realm with Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados. On 30 November 2021, Barbados transitioned to a republic within the Commonwealth.

Today I have read in the Guardian newspaper:

The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has said he will call for a referendum on the country becoming a republic within three years, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Browne signed a document confirming Charles III's status as the new King, but minutes later, said he would push for a republic referendum after indicating such a move earlier this year during a visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Others may follow. Will there now be a rush to the exit?

[<k>]

The Commonwealth Realms.

These are those independent states of the Commonwealth that have chosen to retain the British monarch as their head of state. They were formerly known as the Dominions, but that term is no longer politically correct.

Besides the UK, there are 14 Commonwealth Realms:

1] Australia
2] New Zealand
3] Canada
4] Jamaica
5] Antigua and Barbuda
6] Belize
7] Papua New Guinea
8] St Christopher and Nevis
9] St Vincent and the Grenadines
10] Tuvalu
11] Grenada
12] The Solomon Islands
13] St Lucia
14] The Bahamas


There are seven Australian external territories; two New Zealand dependent territories: the Ross Dependency (an uninhabited region of Antarctica) and Tokelau; and two New Zealand associated states: Niue, and the Cook Islands. King Charles III is also monarch of these.

[<k>]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

England and Scotland are kingdoms. Wales and Northern Ireland are constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

The Crown Dependencies.

These consist of:

1] Jersey
2] Guernsey
3] The Isle of Man.

These are semi-autonomous, and although, just like the UK, they use the British pound sterling, they are allowed to issue their own local versions of the coins and banknotes.

Guernsey also has its own dependencies: Alderney, Sark, and Herm – the others are either private (one is owned by the reclusive Barclay brothers) or tiny and uninhabited. Jersey and Guernsey and the dependencies are collectively known in Britain as the Channel Islands.

British Overseas Territories.

These are British possessions and were formerly known as "colonies", but that is not a politically correct term these days.

There are 14 British overseas territories:

1] British Indian Ocean Territory
2] Gibraltar
3] Bermuda
4] The Falkland Islands
5] South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
6] British Antarctic Territory
7] St Helena and its dependencies of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
8] Montserrat
9] The British Virgin Islands
10] The Cayman Islands
11] Turks and Caicos Islands
12] Anguilla
13] The Pitcairn Group of Islands
14] The Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus: Akrotiri and Dhekelia

[<k>]

Regarding the Overseas Territories:

* Argentina and Chile dispute the British claim to British Antarctic Territory

* Argentina disputes the British claim to the Falkland Islands and also to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

* The United Nations has proclaimed British Indian Ocean Territory to be an illegally occupied colony

* Gibraltar is secure for now, but Spain may one day seek its return

[<k>]

The future of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland itself seems uncertain.

In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, 44.7% of the voters opted for independence.

In the 2016 referendum, a clear majority of Scots and Northern Irish voters opted for remaining a part of the European Union.

As a whole, almost 52% of UK voters opted for Brexit. Since Brexit, Scotland has remained under the dominance of the Scottish National Party. Queen Elizabeth II had a lifelong love for Scotland and died in her Scottish residence at Balmoral. She was respected by many Scots, including many who are Nationalists. Now she is gone. Will Charles enjoy the same respect in Scotland?

In Northern Ireland, the dominance of Protestant Unionism has been broken in recent years. We must expect to see a united Ireland at some point in the not too distant future.

King Charles III inherits the throne at an uneasy point in history. Brexit split the country down the middle. Scotland is split between Nationalists and Unionists. Independence for Scotland would have numismatic ramifications for the UK, as would, to a lesser extent, unification of Ireland.

Watch this space!

[<k>]

Here I will reiterate a point that I made above:

Today I have read in the Guardian newspaper:

The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has said he will call for a referendum on the country becoming a republic within three years, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Browne signed a document confirming Charles III's status as the new King, but minutes later, said he would push for a republic referendum after indicating such a move earlier this year during a visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Others may follow. Will there now be a rush to the exit?

Comments, members? Who do you think are the most loyal Commonwealth realms? I imagine that New Zealand might be the "last man standing" if other countries rush for the exit.

Who is the least loyal? Who will be next after Antigua and Barbuda?

[<k>]

Jamaica's prime minister, Andrew Holness, suggested to Prince William and his wife Catherine during their visit in March 2022 that his country may be the next to become a republic. A minister from Belize said afterwards that perhaps it was time to "take the next step in truly owning our independence".

[<k>]

Australia quietly mourns passing of an era with Queen's death as thoughts turn to a republic.

EXTRACTS:

Elizabeth's death and Charles's ascension has Australia questioning what sort of nation it is and wants to be.

The newly elected government has flagged that it wants to hold a referendum in the next term of parliament on whether Australia should become a republic, jettisoning its formal connection to the monarchy.

Australians have demonstrated conflicting emotions on the Queen's passing: an affection for the person of Her Majesty, her life of service and devotion to duty, ill-matched with a scepticism – in some quarters even disdain – for the institution she represented, increasingly seen by many as anachronistic.

Indigenous Australia's relationship to the Queen and crown is complex. While some remembered Elizabeth fondly, for others she was the embodiment of the British imperialism that dispossessed their people of their land.

Polls, over years, have consistently shown Charles to be less popular than the Queen. However, the monarchy leaves no space for equivocation, no room to waver. The moment of the Queen's death was the moment Charles became King of Australia. There was no moment to consider whether the country still wanted to be part of the tradition.