The cypher of King Charles III has been revealed, showing an image to be used by government departments and on state documents and post boxes.
It was personally chosen by the King from a range of designs produced by the College of Arms. The monogram combines his initial “C” and “R” for Rex, the Latin for king, plus III for the third King Charles.
The cypher, a visual identity for the new reign, replaces the E II R of Queen Elizabeth II and was designed by the College of Arms and chosen by King Charles III.
There will be other changes ahead to mark the new reign of King Charles. The Bank of England has revealed that new bank notes featuring a portrait of King Charles III are “expected to enter circulation by mid-2024″, with the image to be revealed before the end of this year.
Approximately, the Royal Mint stated that there are 27 billion coins from Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in circulation.
Among other things, the Royal Mail has highlighted that new stamps featuring King Charles will “enter circulation once current stocks of stamps are exhausted”. But a set of four memorial stamps are to be released in November, showing portraits of Queen Elizabeth II taken at different stages during her reign.
Almost 70,000 of the current post boxes, about 60% of the total, date from the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. There are only about 170 surviving from the short reign of Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936.
Circulation of coins featuring portrait of King Charles
Meanwhile, new coins will be produced by the Royal Mint, and will appear “in line with demand from banks and post offices”. However, there is no date yet set for them to be in circulation, but more details of how they will look will be shown “over the coming weeks”.
The King will replace his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to become the first king on British coins since 1952.
The Royal Mint Museum has indicated that there is a tradition for the profile of a new monarch on coins to face in the opposite direction to their predecessor. Existing banknotes and coins will continue to be valid, with Charles and Elizabeth notes and coins being used alongside each other.
Royal Mint boss, Anne Jessop, said: “Coinage of King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II will co-circulate in the UK for many years to come”.
“We are honoured to have struck each UK coin of Her Late Majesty’s reign, documenting her journey from young Queen to respected Head of State. As official coin maker to the UK, we have told the story of each monarch since Alfred the Great and are now preparing for the biggest change in British coinage for several decades.”
Anne Jessop
Ms Jessop stated that the first coins bearing the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III will enter circulation in line with demand from banks and post offices.
Before decimalisation in 1971, when all UK coins were replaced, it was common for coins featuring different monarchs to co-circulate, which will be the case after these new ones are minted.
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