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                               Decus et tutamen

[One Pound, 1983] [1] [One Pound, 1993] [2] Spring [3] came back [4] with
quite a pocketfull of change (the currency exchange booth at Miami
International Airport [5] would only exchange bills, not coins). On the drive
back we talked a bit about foreign currency [6] and the topic of British
money came up, of which she had a few coins (a new penny, two pence and two
single pound coins).

“I wonder if Queen Elizabeth [7] can use this for identification,” I said,
holding up one of the coins. Spring giggled at the thought (“ID?” “Here you
go,” the Queen says, handing him a few pounds. “Right then, in you go!”)

[Pound, tail side] [8] I noticed though, that the portrait of the Queen has
changed over the years. On the earlier coin (1983) she appears younger, with
a smaller crown than the more recent coins (1993). Also, the pound coins feel
and look more like tokens than coins to me (they're actually quite thick,
about the thickness of two U. S. pennies, and slightly larger in diameter)
and for their worth, they're quite small in size (the two pence coin is
slightly larger than the U. S. quarter).

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2002/08/13/pound.head.1983.jpg
[2] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2002/08/13/pound.head.1993.jpg
[3] http://www.springdew.com/
[4] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2002/08/13.2
[5] http://www.miami-airport.com/
[6] http://www.lileks.com/money/index.html
[7] http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page412.asp
[8] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2002/08/13/pound.tail.jpg

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