Britannia Updated

We have had Britannia on our coins since Roman times, but most notably from the reign of Charles II onwards……and in many different guises, as engravers & designers have come and gone.

My favourite of modern times is this one, from the Britannia silver range of bullion coins, by a designer called Philip Nathan. The lines over the image represent waves of the sea and she is a wearing a Corinthian helmet as a nod back to her older Roman image.

Britannia is also a term for a type of silver, purer than sterling. Britannia is 95.8% silver content, whilst sterling is 92.5%. Way back in 1697 Parliament voted to change our silver from sterling to the higher Britannia grade, but because this new form was softer this was changed back to sterling after complaints from silversmiths over their difficulties working with it.