Silly season is here. A minor row has broken out over which long-dead figures should appear on the reverse side of Bank of England notes. I can’t be bothered to relate the details because you’ve all got better things to do like water the garden, fix lunch or watch Loose Women. Basically, Sir Mervyn King’s got it in the neck from the Continuity Bien Pensants by seeming to back Winston Churchill and Jane Austen for this dubious accolade. So far, so ludicrous. But there’s one more point worth making.
The criteria for this banknote business are that the subject must be enduringly famous and recognisable. This does rather limit the field, particularly where ‘politically correct’ candidates are concerned. What proportion of the population could identify Mary Seacole? Who could pick a Pankhurst out of a line-up? And how many people could accurately describe what any of the above did with their unusual lives?
There’s a good exhibition at the Tower of London showing how the Crown has used coinage as a tool of power and unity.
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