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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. The definitive portrait is "couped" - cut off at the neck -and shows the Queen with the royal diadem which she wears on her way to and from the State Opening of Parliament.
This version is "uncouped", with the portrait continuing down and showing the Queen's shoulders too. The designer's initials, RDM are on the shoulder of the Queen's dress. 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.
The uncouped version of the portrait was used mainly by British Overseas Territories and dependencies, and not in the United Kingdom itself or any of the Commonwealth countries.
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