The History of the British Silver Britannia Coin

Britannia on the Coinage

It was the Romans who, in recording their invasion and colonisation of the mysterious island lying beyond Oceanus,
a country which they believed full of silver, first portrayed Britannia on their coins.

Much later Britannia was to become a fitting symbol to grace the reverse of the copper coins of Charles II when, in direct allusion
to the then war with the Dutch, her image symbolised her sovereignty of the seas. Universally recognised
as the personification of Britain, she has graced the coins of every British monarch since.

On the coinage of the present Queen, she featured on every pre-decimal penny and following decimalisation was chosen
to appear on the 50p coin.

She was chosen to grace the new gold coinage introduced in 1987,
the coins of highest denomination in the realm, and on the silver bullion coins introduced in 1997.

Britannia - Source Wikipedia

Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a personification of the island.
The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally
designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain.

However, by the 1st century BC Britannia came to be used for Great Britain specifically.

In AD 43 the Roman Empire began its conquest of the island, establishing a province they called Britannia,
which came to encompass the parts of the island south of Caledonia (roughly Scotland).

The native Celtic inhabitants of the province are known as the Britons.

In the 2nd century Roman Britannia came to be personified as a goddess,
armed with a spear and shield and wearing a centurion's helmet.

The Latin name Britannia long survived the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century,
and yielded the name for the island in most European and various other languages,
including the English Britain and the modern Welsh Prydain. After centuries of declining use,
the Latin form was revived during the English Renaissance as a rhetorical evocation of a British national identity.

Especially following the Acts of Union in 1707, which joined the Kingdoms of England and Scotland,
the personification of the martial Britannia was used as an emblem of British imperial power and unity.

She has appeared consistently on British coinage ever since.

Queen Elizabeth II

By the time Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952, Britannia had,
for almost 300 years, been an enduring feature of British coinage.

Having graced the copper halfpennies and farthings since the time of Charles II,
she was the natural choice for the reverse of the first penny,
the large copper ‘Cartwheel’ penny introduced during the reign of George III.

She continued to reign supreme on the copper and later bronze pennies of every
monarch up until decimalisation.

Following decimalisation she was chosen to appear on the definitive 50p coin and
continued to do so until 2008.

Gold and Silver

As a symbol of national pride, Britannia has long occupied a vital place in our affections.
What more appropriate subject, therefore, to grace coins that were to appeal to
international bullion markets yet be immediately identifiable as British?

Strength and Serenity

Since its introduction in 1997, the silver Britannia £2 coin has become a great favourite of the numismatic year.
The largest and purest legal tender coin of the UK, it is produced in .958 Britannia silver,
an alloy comprising 95.8% silver with the rest copper, and contains a full ounce of fine silver.

Britannia Silver

The Britannia £2 coin has been struck in Britannia silver, an alloy of silver containing 95.8% silver
and the rest of copper. The Britannia standard of silver was introduced as part of the recoinage
of William III in 1696 in an attempt to limit the clipping and melting of sterling silver coinage,
it being reasoned that there would be less incentive to melt sterling silver when a higher standard was
used for ‘wrought plate’. In 1697 Britannia silver became the obligatory standard for items of plate’ and the lion
passant guardant hallmark was replaced with ‘the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia’. Sterling silver was approved
again for use by silversmiths in 1720 with Britannia silver remaining optional.