Information about effigy: Queen Elizabeth II - Third Portrait, by Raphael Maklouf

In 1982 the British Royal Mint invited 17 artists to submit portrait models to be considered as a replacement for the Arnold Machin ("Second") portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the Design of Coins, Medals, Seals and Decorations considered 38 models. The Committee selected a group of models by Raphael Maklouf as most promising.

A revised model was recommended by the Committee and accepted by the Queen for use on circulating United Kingdom coinage from 1 January 1985. Although it is not mandatory for other Commonwealth countries to use the same portrait as the United Kingdom uses, most of them decided that the Maklouf effigy would be adopted on their coinage too from 1985.

According to the Royal Mint, "The couped portrait - cut off at the neck - shows the Queen with the royal diadem which she wears on her way to and from the State Opening of Parliament. Unlike the Gillick and Machin portraits of The Queen, Raphael Maklouf’s portrait also included a necklace and earrings. Having been accused by some of sculpting The Queen ‘flatteringly young’, the artist responded that such critics had misunderstood his intention which was ‘to create a symbol, regal and ageless’.

A close examination reveals the artist’s initials, RDM, on the truncation of the neck. The inclusion of the middle letter - for David - was to ensure that the signature would not be misinterpreted as a reference to The Royal Mint.

This "Third Portrait" of Queen Elizabeth II was superseded in most Commonwealth countries by Ian Rank-Broadley's design in 1998. The exception was Fiji, which became a republic in 1987 and was later suspended from the Commonwealth, so was not authorised to use the new portrait; even though the country was a republic, it continued to feature the Maklouf effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on its coinage until 2010.

Third definitive portrait in gold

United Kingdom / Double Sovereign 1985 (Proof only)

The Maklouf portrait is seen here on a gold double sovereign issued by the United Kingdom, with the Queen's legend in Latin.