n the obverse. There has been only one monarch since decimalisation, Queen Elizabeth II, so her head appears on all decimal coins, facing to the right (see also Monarch's head, above). However, five different effigies have been used, reflecting the Queen's changing appearance as she has aged. These are the effigies by Mary Gillick (until 1968), Arnold Machin (1968–1984), Raphael Maklouf (1985–1997), Ian Rank-Broadley (1998–2015), and Jody Clark (from 2015).
All current coins carry a Latin inscription whose full form is ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR, meaning "Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith". The inscription appears on the coins in any of several abbreviated forms, typically ELIZABETH II D G REG F D.
From 2008 the circle of dots between the lettering and the rim was removed from the 1p, 2p, 5, and 10p and £1. It was never on the 20p and 50p, and is retained on the £2.
Original reverse designs
The original standard-issue decimal coinage reverse designs are as follows:
- ½p (discontinued 1984) — A crown, symbolising the monarch.
- 1p – A crowned portcullis with chains (the badge of the Houses of Parliament).
- 2p – The Prince of Wales's feathers: a plume of ostrich feathers within a coronet.
- 5p – A crowned thistle, formally "The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned".
- 10p – A crowned lion, part of the British Coat of Arms (and often is the national animal of the UK)
- 20p – A crowned Tudor Rose, a traditional heraldic emblem of England (NB With incuse design and lettering).
- 50p — Britannia and lion.
- £1 – Numerous different designs (see below).
- £2 – An abstract design of concentric circles, representing technological development from the Iron Age to the modern day electronic age.
Up until the 2008 redesign, the reverse designs of the one pound coin have followed a five-year cycle. This cycle successively represents, by using royal heraldic badges, each of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, namely Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, with the Royal Coat of Arms used in every fifth year:
|Royal designs||Themed designs|
|1983: Royal Coat of Arms||National plants||1984: Thistle||1985: Leek||1986: Flax||1987: Oak|
|1988: Royal Shield & Crown||National plants||1989: Thistle||1990: Leek||1991: Flax||1992: Oak|
|1993: Royal Coat of Arms||National symbols||1994: Lion Rampant||1995: Welsh dragon||1996: Celtic cross||1997: The Three Lions|
|1998: Royal Coat of Arms||National symbols||1999: Lion Rampant||2000: Welsh dragon||2001: Celtic cross||2002: The Three Lions|
|2003: Royal Coat of Arms||Bridges||2004: Forth Bridge||2005: Menai Suspension Bridge||2006: MacNeill's Egyptian Arch||2007: Gateshead Millennium Bridge|
|2008-: Royal Shield||Capitals||2011: Edinburgh||2011: Cardiff||2010: Belfast||2010: London|
|2008-: Royal Shield||National plants||2014: Thistle & bellflower stem||2013: Leek & daffodil plant||2014: Shamrock & flax stem||2013: Rose & oak twig|
Royal Shield reverse
The 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coin designs post 2008 each depict a part of the Royal Shield, and form the whole shield when they are placed together in the appropriate arrangement. The Royal Shield is seen in its entirety on the £1 coin.
- The 1p coin depicts the lower part of the first quarter and the upper part of the third quarter of the shield, showing the lions passant of England and the harp of Ireland respectively
- The 2p coin depicts most of the second quarter of the shield, showing the lion rampant of Scotland
- The 5p coin depicts the centre of the shield, showing the meeting and parts of the constituent parts of the shield
- The 10p coin depicts most of the first quarter of the shield, containing the three lions passant of England
- The 20p coin depicts the lower part of the second quarter and upper part of the fourth quarter, showing the lion rampant of Scotland and the lions passant of England respectively
- The 50p coin depicts the point of the shield and the bottom portions of the second and third quarters showing the harp of Ireland and lions passa