When designer John Bergdahl was asked to interpret the iconic figure of Britannia, he produced four different drawings before finally, at the fifth, he arrived at a very personal image that sums up everything Britain means to him.

His design, which appears on the reverse of the new limited-edition range of Britannia coins, shows, in John's words, 'a younger Britannia, and a warrior maiden at one with the elements, representing Britain.'

One of a number of designers asked to put forward designs for the coin, John says it wasn't until the last of a series of drawings that the elements finally came together in the form subsequently chosen to appear on the coin.

'I tend to work out my ideas on paper,' he says. 'I prepared five drawings which I submitted, but it wasn't until the fifth that things started to gel. That one brought together all the things I wanted to say and felt about Britannia and about Britain.'

The 2008 Britannia is commanding, standing proudly between land and sea with her face towards crested waves that are formed from her robes. To the right of her is featured a lighthouse, an image that traditionally appears on coinage designs of Britannia.

For John, Britannia represents a nation with a rich maritime heritage. 'It is not just that we are surrounded by sea,' he says. 'The nation was forged from the sea in as much as the Romans, Danes, Vikings, Angles and Saxons all came here and made us what we are - we're a fairly diverse race. Britain is not just set in the sea, the British people are at one with the sea - that is where I came to with this particular Britannia. She comes from the waves and the waves become her.'

These are not the ideas that the designer started out with - rather they crystallised as he worked.

'Things come to the surface as I draw,' says John. 'Then I start to realise where I'm going. It's almost like writing a character in a novel - they come to the point where the character starts to take over and narrates its own story.'

John Bergdahl is a freelance designer and silversmith who trained as an heraldic engraver. He has been designing coins and medals since 1970. He has previously taken on commissions for the Royal Mint, but this is the first time one of his designs has appeared on legal tender coins of the United Kingdom.