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Queen Elizabeth II is the reigning queen (Queen Regnant) and head of state of 16 independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In addition, as Head of the Commonwealth, she is the figurehead of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations and, as the British monarch, she is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

As Queen, her effigy appears on the coinage of many of the countries in her realm, and has appeared, in the past, on the coins of many former nations of which she was the sovereign or Head of State.

There have been four portraits of the Queen on the circulating coins of the United Kingdom, most of which have been used on coins of territorial possessions of the United Kingdom, as well as former British Colonies, Crown Dependencies, Protectorates and Commonwealth Nations.

The first coinage portrait of Her Majesty, by Mary Gillick, was adopted for the earliest coins in her reign issued from 1953 to 1967. This portrait shows the young Queen wearing a laurel wreath crown. The first version depicted the Queen with bare shoulders, however, this was quickly revised to dispel criticism of impropriety by the addition of straps to indicate that she was wearing a gown.

For the decimal coins of 1968, a fresh portrait was adopted, desogned by Arnold Machin, O.B.E., R.A. In Machin's portrait, The Queen is depicted wearing the Girls of Great Britain & Ireland Tiara, as it is known, which was given to The Queen, as a wedding present in 1947, by her grandmother, Queen Mary. Originally, the tiara was a gift from the “Girls of Great Britain and Ireland” that was given to Queen Mary in 1893. A description, by Leslie Field: "A diamond festoon-and-scroll design surmounted by nine large oriental pearls on diamond spikes and set on a bandeau base of alternate round and lozenge collets between two plain bands of diamonds". Queen Elizabeth II usually wears the tiara without the base or pearls.

The third change in portrait, adopted in 1985, was by Raphael Maklouf, F.R.S.A. This design shows the Queen with the State Diadem which she wears on her way to and from the State Opening of Parliament. The Diadem was originally made in 1820 for the coronation of King George IV. It was also worn by both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II during their coronation processions. The diadem includes 1333 diamonds weighing 325.75 carats (65.15 g), and 169 pearls along its base. Its design features roses, thistles and shamrocks, the symbols of England, Scotland and Ireland respectively.

This third portrait was revised by Hungarian-born, Canadian sculptor Doro de Pédery-Hunt, depicting a more mature version of the Queen, for use on Canadian coins issued from 1990 to 2003. The revised "Canadian" portrait has also been used on various other country's commemorative coins.

The fourth and current portrait, introduced in 1998, is the work of sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley F.R.B.S., F.S.N.A.D. Her Majesty is wearing the Girls of Great Britain & Ireland Tiara which was used in the second coinage portrait of Arnold Machin.

The Queen continues to be shown facing right, in accordance with a tradition dating back to the seventeenth century, where successive monarchs face in alternative directions on the coinage. An interesting historical variance in this tradition occurred in 1936, when King Edward VIII insisted that his portrait face left, as had his father's, King George V, because it was his "better side". However, as he abdicated the throne before his coronation, only a few, rare examples of this anomaly were ever produced. His younger brother and successor, George VI, also had his portrait facing left, to restore the "natural order" to the coin portraiture.

The Island of Jersey coinage originally featured a crowned bust portrait designed by Cecil Thomas. This design also appeared on the coins from Bermuda, British Eastern Caribbean Territories, British Honduras, Cyprus, British East Africa, British West Africa, Fiji, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Malaya and British Borneo, Mauritius, Nigeria, and The Seychelles and is still in use on some coins from Belize (formerly, British Honduras). Canadian coins since 2004 feature an uncrowned bust designed by Susanna Blunt.

In addition, there have been several other variations used on both circulating and commemorative coinage. These include a Coronation portrait of the Queen used on the Canadian Fifty-cent coin issued in 2002 for the Queen's Jubilee and a portrait used on New Zealand dollar coins from 1979 to 1982.

Seventy-eight in all, Queen Elizabeth II’s likeness has been featured on the coinage of more countries, dependencies, colonies and territorial possessions than any other person, real or allegorical, in history.

Countries that currently feature the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on their regular, circulating coinage are as follows:

Alderney (One of the 9 Channel Islands and a dependency of The "Bailiwick" of Guernsey, which is itself a British Crown Dependency under the jurisdiction of The United Kingdom; mostly commemorative issues)

Ascension Island (A constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena; mostly commemorative issues; SEE Saint Helena & Ascension, below)

Australia (Circulating, commemorative & bullion coinage)

Belize (Formerly, British Honduras)

Bermuda (British Overseas Territory)

British Antarctic Territory

British Indian Ocean Territories

British Virgin Islands (British Overseas Territory)

Canada (Circulating, commemorative & bullion coinage)

Cayman Islands (British Overseas Territory)

Cook Islands (A former dependency of New Zealand, now an independent nation in a "free-association" with New Zealand)

East Caribbean States (A monetary union of several British island territories in the Caribbean, some of whom also issue their own commemorative coinage, but these countries do not separately feature QE II on circulating coinage; Formerly, "British Caribbean Territories - Eastern Group" and, briefly, "East Caribbean Territories")

Falkland Islands (British Overseas Territory)

Fiji Islands (Former Commonwealth nation that still uses QE II on their coins, but has announced that she will no longer appear on future issues, beginning in 2012)

Gibraltar (British Overseas Territory)

Gough Island (An island in the Tristan da Cunha Island group, which is a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena; NCLT - non-circulating legal tender coins, issued for collectors)

Guernsey (A British Crown Dependency under the jurisdiction of The United Kingdom; officially the "Bailiwick of Guernsey")

Isle of Man (A British Crown Dependency)

Jersey (A British Crown Dependency under the jurisdiction of The United Kingdom; officially the "Bailiwick of Jersey")

New Zealand (Circulating, commemorative & bullion coinage)

Nightingale Island (An island in the Tristan da Cunha Island group, which is a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena; NCLT - non-circulating legal tender coins, issued for collectors)

Niue Islands (A former dependency of New Zealand; now, self-governing in a free association with New Zealand)

Pitcairn Islands (A British Overseas Territory)

Saint Helena (A British Overseas Territory; mostly commemorative issues; SEE BELOW)

Saint Helena & Ascension (A British Overseas Territory comprised of Saint Helena Island with constituents of Ascension Island and the Tristan da Cunha Islands - standard coinage for the Territory is issued from Saint Helena & Ascension and, separately from Tristan da Cunha, while each of the 3 individual islands also issue commemorative coinage in their own names; additionally 3 other islands, which are part of the Tristan da Cunha Islands, issue NCLT - non-circulating legal tender coins, issued for collectors: Gough, Nightingale & Stoltenhoff Islands)

Solomon Islands (Former British Protectorate)

South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands (Dependencies of the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands)

Stoltenhoff Island (An island in the Tristan da Cunha Island group, which is a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena; NCLT - non-circulating legal tender coins, issued for collectors)

Tokelau Islands (A Territory of New Zealand)

Tristan da Cunha (A constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena; mostly commemorative issues; SEE Saint Helena & Ascension, above)

Turks & Caicos Islands (British Overseas Territory)

Tuvalu (Formerly, the Ellice Islands, a British Crown Colony with the Gilbert Islands, which are now known as Kiribati - SEE NEXT SECTION)

United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (Circulating, commemorative & bullion coinage) NOTE: The United Kingdom sometimes issues coins that feature separate reverses with the national emblems of its 4 constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. Therefore, a collector of Queen Elizabeth II coins may also wish to include examples of these 4 types plus a United Kingdom emblem coin, to bring the total for a series of United Kingdom coins to 5 individual examples.

Additionally, Queen Elizabeth II has also been featured on past and/or commemorative coinage of the following 40 countries, dependencies, colonies and territories:

Antigua & Barbuda (Part of the East Caribbean States; Only one commemorative issue: a 1985 Royal Visit, in Copper-Nickel or Silver Proof)

Bahama Islands (& The Commonwealth of The Bahamas)

Barbados (Only commemorative issues)

British Honduras (Now called Belize)

British Caribbean Territories - Eastern Group (Replaced, briefly, by "The East Caribbean Territories" ultimately by the current "East Caribbean States")

British East Africa (Former protectorate comprised of 5 former territories: Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, Zanzibar & British Somaliland)

British West Africa (A monetary union of 4 former territories: Gambia [The Gambie], Sierra Leone, Nigeria & The Gold Coast [now, Ghana])

Ceylon (Fomer British Crown Colony; subsequently, a Dominion; now, The Republic of Sri Lanka)

Cyprus (Former British Crown Colony)

Dominica (Part of the East Caribbean States; Only two commemorative issues: 1979 Papal Visit & 1985 Royal Visit, either one in both C/N or Silver Proof) East Caribbean Territories (Transitional period between "British Caribbean Territories - Eastern Group" and "East Caribbean States" with only a few commemorative issues)

Gambia (The Gambia) (Former British Crown Colony) Ghana (Former British Colony of the Gold Coast; Only commemorative issues)

Grenada (Part of the East Caribbean States; Only one commemorative issue: 1985 Royal Visit, in C/N or Silver Proof) Guyana (Formerly, British Guiana, part of the British Caribbean Territories - Eastern Group; Only one commemorative issue: 1994 Royal Visit Silver Proof with a small conjoined busts portrait, depicted with The Duke of Edinburgh) Hong Kong (Now part of the People's Republic of [Communist] China) Jamaica (Former British Crown Colony; Colonial issues and one commemorative issue: 1994 Royal Visit Silver Proof with a small conjoined busts portrait, depicted with The Duke of Edinburgh) Kiribati (Formerly, the Gilbert Islands, a British Crown Colony with the Ellice Islands, which are now known as Tuvalu - SEE PREVIOUS SECTION; Only commemorative issues) Lesotho (Former British Colony of Basutoland; Only commemorative issues) Liberia (Only commemorative issues)

Malawi (Former British Protectorate of Nyasaland [with {Northern} Rhodesia]; Only commemorative issues)

Malaya & British (North) Borneo (Former Currency Commission for several Southeast Asian British Territories)

Mauritius (Former British Crown Colony)

Nigeria (Former British Protectorate & Crown Colony)

Papua New Guinea (Former dependency of Australia)

Rhodesia (Former British Colony of Southern Rhodesia; subsequently, The Republic of Rhodesia & Zimbabwe; presently, The Republic of Zimbabwe)

Rhodesia & Nyasaland (Former British Protectorate; presently [Northern] Rhodesia is Zambia and Nyasaland is Malawi)

Saint Lucia (Part of the East Caribbean States; Only one commemorative issue: 1985 Royal Visit, in C/N or Silver Proof)

Saint Kitts & Nevis (Part of the East Caribbean States; Only one commemorative issue: 1985 Royal Visit, in C/N or Silver Proof; NOTE: issued as "St. Christopher & Nevis")

Saint Vincent & The Grenadines (Part of the East Caribbean States; Only one commemorative issue: 1985 Royal Visit, in C/N, Silver Proof or Gold Proof) Seychelles Islands (Former British Crown Colony)

Sierra Leone (Former British Crown Colony; Only commemorative issues)

South Africa (Formerly, The Union of South Africa, a Dominion; subsequently, a Commonwealth Nation; presently, The Republic of South Africa)

Southern Rhodesia (Former British Colony; subsequently, Rhodesia, then, The Republic of Rhodesia & Zimbabwe; presently, The Republic of Zimbabwe)

Swaziland (Former British Protectorate; Only 2 Gold Commemorative issues)

Tonga (Former British Protected State as part of the British Western Pacific Territories; Only Commemorative issues)

Uganda (Former British Protectorate; Only commemorative issues)

Vanuatu (Formerly a British & French jointly-ruled "Condominum" Territory; Only commemorative issues)

Samoa (Formerly, Western Samoa, a territory of New Zealand; Only commemorative issues)

Zambia (Former British Colony of [Northern] Rhodesia [with Nyasaland {now, Malawi} as Rhodesia & Nyasaland]; presently, a republic)