Crowned or Bare-Headed -- Protocol on UK/Commonwealth Coins

Looking through a handful of old coins I've inherited over the years, I've
noticed that sometimes the sovereign is wearing a crown, diadem, etc., while
other times he or she is bare-headed, and I just wondered if there's some
protocol dictating the images. I know, for instance, that the direction a
UK/Commonwealth sovereign faces on the coins alternates -- for instance,
Queen Elizabeth II presents her right face profile to the viewer while
George VI faces with his left profile on the coins.

I can't see a pattern to it, with my admittedly tiny sample (some of the
coins have been lost in a burglary since I began wondering about this, so my
sample of remaining coins is even smaller). I have, at hand:

Queen Victoria in two pennies, one from 1890 and the other from 1900. On
the 1890, it's a youngish portrait of Victoria with what appears to be
ribbons in her hair; In 1900, she was older, with a cloth head-covering.

Edward VII One Penny, 1909 -- he is bare-headed.

George V: 1916 One Penny; 1917 One Shilling; 1936 One Penny -- not wearing a
crown in any of these. But:

George V: 1926 Canadian One Cent -- he is wearing a crown.

George VI:: 1952 Sixpence -- no crown.
George VI: Canadian One Cent pieces from 1938, '42 and '52; Ten Cent pieces
from 1938 and '51 -- no crown.
George VI: 1949 and 1950 Hong Kong Ten Cents -- crowned.
George VI: 1940 Indian Half-Rupee -- crowned.

Elizabeth II is generally shown wearing some sort of laurel wreath or
ribbons in the UK, Canadian and Jamaican coins I have, with the following
exceptions:
Jamaican 1966 Half-Penny and 1955-59 One Penny coins -- crowned.
And in the UK 1971 2 New Pence piece, the Queen is wearing some sort of
tiara or diadem, rather than the crown.

At a glance, it seems more common for the sovereign to be depicted wearing
the crown in Commonwealth or Colonial coins, but that doesn't seem constant,
either.

How do they decide -- and who decides? Crown or wreath or tiara?

Rico...

In all decimal currency coins issued in Australia Elzabeth II is wearing a
head piece. 1966-84, a tiara. 1985-2002 a crown (simillar to her mothers -
without the arches), and a tiara from 2003-06. All George VI coins I have
seen (Aust & NZ) show him with the state crown.

mjcar...

In this, the Australian decimal issues mirror those of the United
Kingdom.

I think you mean George V - no Australian or NZ coins of George VI
depict him crowned.

Michael Andrews-Reading

Stephen...

The choice of royal portrait is a matter of artistic interpretation and
taste. Like dress in general, it reflects changing styles, culture and
history. Many monarchs used only one portrait throughout their reign (at
least on UK coins). Obviously, with a longer reign there is more scope for
variation.

Queen Victoria's UK coins show three portraits, of which you describe the
first and last. I don't think they are ribbons in the "Young Head", but

mjcar...

In fact, there were more than three Victorian portraits on UK coins.
There was the first "young" portrait, with the ringlets (of which there
were two sub-versions); there was the "bun-head" version used on
pennies until very late in the reign; there was the crowned head used
on the "Gothic" florin; there was the Jubilee portrait, with miniature
crown, and there was the veiled portrait, with diadem.

'ringlets' (if this is the correct word) as part of the hair style. The
"Jubilee Head" was used on some coins for a much shorter period (from 1887).
It is quite distinctive, showing a very small crown rather artificially
perched right on top of the head. A web search will find many pictures of
such coins. As you say, the "Old Head" portrait shows her as very aged and
sombre.

mjcar...

It is indeed the case the crowned portraits were more commonly used on
colonial issues - perhaps this was to impress the natives or emphasise
the monarch's imperial role. Victoria's Indian coinage, for instance,
after the proclamation of the Empire, bore a crowned head; except for
colonially struck gold coins, all of Edward VII's imperial coinage bore
a crowned head (unlke the bare-headed UK version); ditto George V. As
noted both George VI and Elizabeth II's colonial currency bore crowned
images - Hong Kong is a good example of this. Medals show a similar
range of portrayal (cf the UK Defence Medal - bare-head - with the War
Service Medal).

The proliferation of numismatics - and of independent states of whom
she is Sovereign - means that the current Queen has been the subject of
a very wide range of portraits on coins, including various UK
commemoratives. I don't think there is any hard-and-fast rule about
the appearance of crowns or diadems, however.

Michael ANdrews-Reading

We are now on the fourth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II - see this link to
the Royal Mint:
The Queen personally approves any new portrait for use. If I remember
correctly, this approval is recorded officially at a meeting of the Privy
Council. I've no idea who suggests when a new one might be considered; it
probably depends on circumstances.

The reversal between left and right profiles is, indeed, traditional. It was
observed for Edward VIII in 1936, so both George V and George VI face to the
left. As I understand it, no coins bearing Edward's portrait were officially
issued. However, some had been struck before the abdication and a very few
samples have somehow managed to find their way into the market!