In 2007 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the first Britannia of 1987, the Royal Mint released a Limited Issue Britannia £2 Two Pound Silver Coin struck in solid .958 Silver.
It was the Romans who first named the Island of England and Scotland, Britannia and the Romans who, to depict their colonization of a conquered country, 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 symbolized her sovereignty of the seas.
She has graced the coinage of every British Monarch since and over the centuries, has naturally been subject to stylistic changes. Now, especially for the gold and silver Britannia of 2007 , a new image has been created by Christopher Le Brun RA. The portrait remains faithful to her character giving her a more contemporary air, yet still associating her with symbols of Britain. Christopher Le Brun admits that he found Britannia familiar yet 'profoundly strange and highly emotive' and was pleased that her emblematic nature gave him to 'return to the original notion of Britannia as the personification of Nymph of the Islands. I find this very evocative: the figure on the shore of Albion, the wooded island, owing something to the imagery of Spenser and Milton'.
He has therefore chosen to depict her in a traditional seated pose with a watchful lion at her feet and in the distance, a shoreline of cliffs. The obverse design of Britannia £2 Two Pound Silver Coin is the stunning portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II designed by Ian Rank BroadleyFRBS.
Limited Mintage of 100,000 Coins Worldwide
Mark a milestone or great British moment with this year-dated Britannia coin
Finished to Royal Mint's Bullion Uncirculated Quality
Struck in Solid Fine .958 Silver Weighing One Ounce of Pure Silver
Features an original design by acclaimed artist Christopher Le Brun
