King Edward VIII and the coins that never were: As exhibition reveals monarch’s portrait and scrapped coinage, historian IAN LLOYD tells how ‘vain’ monarch fell out with the Royal Mint over his desire to sit looking left

King Edward VIII was famed for his vanity. 

As a young man he flouted tradition by wearing the latest fashions, especially flannel trousers with sports coats, ‘turn-ups’ on his trousers and plus-fours for golf. 

His distinctive way of fixing his necktie has gone down in the history books as the ‘Windsor Knot.’

He was also proud of his profile, particularly his left-side with its distinctive parting. 

Unfortunately, this fondness for facing left would set the King on a direct collision course – and a blazing row – with the Royal Mint.

This royal rumpus over the production of the coinage for the king who was never crowned is one of the highlights of new exhibition ‘Money Talks: Art, Society & Power’, at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. 

This delves into the complex, tense and often humorous relationship between art, money and society, using more than 100 objects from ancient Persian gold coins through to the images of Grayson Perry and Banksy.

One of the sample coins produced by the Royal Mint with King Edward VIII’s profile on. It  is one of the highlights of a new exhibition ‘Money Talks: Art, Society & Power’, at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum

British coinage has an odd tradition. Since the 17th century, the profile of a new monarch has to face in the opposite direction to that of his or her predecessor. 

For 300 years this wasn’t a problem, until the precious Edward became the King following the death of his father George V in January 1936. 

Unfortunately, George was a left-facing king, which meant it was Edward’s turn to be depicted facing right.

Just a month after Edward’s accession, Sir Robert Johnson, Deputy Master of the Royal Mint, arrived at Buckingham Palace clutching a wax impression of the new design. 

The King immediately complained that it faced left, and Johnson headed back to the Mint in disgrace. 

Embarrassingly for the Palace, the wax model he left with the King promptly (and suspiciously) ‘disappeared’.

In April, Edward sat for two artists who sketched designs for the new coinage, one crowned and uncrowned. 

Johnson invited himself along to answer any ‘awkward’ questions. 

Edward stubbornly refused to sit facing right, so the session ended up in a major spat, with Johnson pompously insisting the King had to follow tradition.

‘It is my face that is to be used,’ fumed the monarch. 

‘Isn’t it only reasonable that I should at least have the privilege of deciding which side is to be put on public display.’

Thomas Humphrey Paget’s study of Edward VIII on back of an appointment letter

A letter to medal and coin designer Thomas Humphrey Paget arranging a meeting with him and King Edward VIII, along with fellow designer Percy Metcalfe, April 1936

A rejected design for a half crown that would have featured Edward VIII’s depiction

The sample coins, known as ‘Patterns’, that were produced after King Edward VIII succeeded his father in January 1936. They were scheduled to enter production on January 1, 1937 but Edward’s abdication put a stop to the process. Edward later requested a set of the coins but his brother, King George VI, refused

King Edward VIII was famed for his vanity. Above: The then Prince of Wales in military uniform

Back at the Royal Mint, a seething Johnson contacted the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, who held the ex-officio position of Master of the Mint.

A Daily Mail report from January 1937 detailing how the Royal Mint had not revealed which way King George VI would face on his coinage

Jonson insisted that the King should follow tradition. Chamberlain, with more important things to worry about in his in-tray, told Johnson to let Edward have his way.

New wax models were made, facing left, hair neatly parted. The prickly Edward was delighted with the result. 

The Royal Mint scheduled the public release of the ‘King Edward Penny’ for 8am on January 1, 1937, and, as technicians pressed the button to start the production, they must have been satisfied that nothing else could go wrong. 

Unfortunately, like 99.9 per cent of the country, they hadn’t heard of Wallis Simpson and the ill-fated royal romance that ended up with the Abdication on December 10, 1936. 

After all the torment of producing the coins, the Royal Mint now had the frustrating task of having to melt down thousands of the coins that would now never reach public hands.

Thankfully, a handful of proof copies did survive. In June 1938, Edward’s successor George VI (whose own coinage was issued without a hissy fit and in record time) was made aware of a few sets that had escaped incineration. 

The new King asked if he could have one for the Royal Collection and of course this was duly sent. 

The remaining sets were placed in a cardboard box and marked with the words: ‘Not to be opened except in the presence of two senior officials.’ 

One of these historic proof sets is in the Ashmolean display.

King Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936 over his desire to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson

Edward, then the Prince of Wales, seen with his brothers, Prince Henry the Duke of Gloucester (left) and Prince Albert the Duke of York, who would go on to reign as King George VI

The former King Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor, holds up a copy of his 1951 memoir, A King’s Story

Someone who didn’t get a set of the coins was Edward himself. In 1951, he learned of the existence of the sets and asked the Royal Mint if he could have a set with his image on. 

The decision was referred through the chain of command to George VI himself, who by then was suffering from cancer and also furious at the publication of his brother’s self-serving autobiography, A King’s Story, the previous year. He refused the request.

George VI also snubbed Edward in the design of his own coinage. Like his father, George V, the new King also faced left on notes and coins. 

To the public then, who had not seen the Mint’s samples, they would have assumed that Edward would have faced right on his coins had he stayed as King. 

Queen Elizabeth II – who became the monarch after the death of her father George VI in 1952 – faced right on the coins issued during her 70-year reign. 

And in the recently-released coins featuring King Charles, the monarch again faces left. Oh, and he also gets to have a parting!

Money Talks: Art, Society & Power is running at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford until January 5, 2025.