§ *MR. EVELYN CECIL (Aston Manor)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the widespread condemnation of the portrait of Queen Victoria on the coinage first used in 1887, he has satisfied himself that the designing of the new coinage has been entrusted to the best possible artistic workmanship; and, if not, whether he will order designs from such a source, or else consider the advisability of retaining the present designs on the reverse side of the new coins.
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHThe task of designing the effigy of His Majesty on 1032 the new coinage has been entrusted to Mr. De Saulles, the engraver to the Mint. I think the coinage of 1887 is a warning against entrusting this work to an artist unaccustomed to coinage and engraving. The whole question of the designs for the new coinage is receiving my careful attention. I do not, as at present advised, think that it will be found desirable to introduce many changes in the present designs on the reverses.