Concern over Britannia's removal
The removal of Britannia, the female personification of Britain, from the 50p coins has prompted a handful of MPs to ask the government to intervene.Link to full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7215104.stm
3 comments:
I couldn't help but draw a comparison to the state quarters we have in the US. In order to make space for the new designs, they had to get rid of the eagle. That might have upset some people at the time (I'm just guessing), but the state quarters have been a big hit, partly because of all the designs and partly because people were ready for a change.
I think the British Treasury is trying to do something similar by replacing Britannia with a new design, which is different but no less symbolic of the nation. An update is good once in a while. Besides, even though I don't know how significant the image of Britannia is to British people, I'm guessing most of them won't miss her on their 50p coins. Now taking the queen off the money would probably be a MUCH bigger deal.
I would have to disagree with the previous comment after reading this article partly because a nation's history and partly nationalism comes from the representations that are made on the coin as was explained in the Helleiner article. By removing this message and changing it to something new can have an effect on nationalism which can be seen as very important in a day and age of constant globalization. The new approach at trying to modernize the coin will most likely alienate those with nationalism as was stated in the article.
I find this article interesting because it really shows that the idea of the "economic man" is a fallacy. We don't just deal with money in a practical and detached way, but instead are culturally attached to our money. Another similar story, but working in the opposite direction, occured when the US removed Saddam's face from the Iraqi dinar. Stories like this give you a little peak at our attachment.
-Jon Heston
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