In 1998, the Royal Mint is issuing for the second successive year, Britannia Silver Proof Coins.
Following the celebratory design by sculptor Philip Nathan that featured on the reverse of the 1997 Gold and Silver Britannia issues, the 1998 Britannia Silver Coins depict his much admired design created for the Gold Britannia of 1987. The standing figure of Britannia is unmistakable as the personification of Britain. Her hair and gown streaming in the wind, she stands defiantly proud, armed in her right hand with a familiar trident, her left hand resting on a shield.
Gracing the obverse is the new portrait of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the fourth to feature on the circulating coinage since her accession in 1952. The powerful design, capturing the Queen in a realistic profile, is the work of sculptor and medalist Ian Rank Broadley, FRBS, FSNAD. These legal tender coins have been struck to proof quality using specially prepared dies and highly polished blanks.
