Britannia – The Spirit of a Nation

Nearly 2,000 years ago, a figure was shaped to symbolise a nation and its people. The Romans imagined a noble, graceful warrior and placed her on coins with the name Britannia, the new province they had claimed. Britannia has been reimagined many times as she has appeared on the coins of every British monarch from Charles II through to Her Majesty The Queen. The artists of each age have depicted her in ways that reflect the ideas and style of their time. Through every incarnation, Britannia has taken on more layers of meaning and has come to embody the spirit of a nation.