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Design
details:
The 1973 50p piece was the very first commemorative coin since
decimalisation. It was introduced to celebrate the UK's accession to the
European Economic Community. It features nine hands clasping each other in
a circle, symbolising the nine member states of the community, One hand is
notably smaller than the other eight. One of the original designs showed a
different inscription and ten hands, when David Wynne was preparing
designs one of the early options was a ring of ten hands rather than the
nine that subsequently appeared as the approved design. In the time
between the idea of the coin being proposed and its eventual issue, the
expected number of members was reduced from ten to nine by the withdrawal
of Norway.
David therefore
had to amend his design accordingly. He had used as models hands to which
he could readily refer: his own, those of his wife and one of his sons,
those of a craftsman who assisted in his studio and those of a girl who
helped look after his children.
One of the girl's hands was omitted and, being more delicate than the
others, the one that remains is conspicuous. The girl's hand does not
represent any particular member of the Community, that’s the official word
on it. |
