Editing Obverse and reverse (section)

===Coins of the United Kingdom===
[[Image:EdwardVIIIcoin.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A left-facing portrait of [[Edward VIII]] on the obverse of UK and Empire coins would have broken tradition.]]
Following ancient tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom (and predecessor kingdoms going back to the [[Middle Ages]]) almost always feature the head of the monarch.

By tradition, each British monarch faces in the opposite direction of his or her predecessor; this is said to date from 1661, with [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] turning his back on [[Oliver Cromwell]]. Hence, [[George VI]] faced left and [[Elizabeth II]] faced right. The only break in this tradition almost occurred in 1936 when [[Edward VIII]], believing his left side to be superior to his right (to show the parting in his hair), insisted on his image facing left, as his father's image had. No official legislation prevented his wishes being granted, so left-facing obverses were prepared for minting. Very few examples were struck before he [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|abdicated]] later that year, and none bearing this portrait were ever issued officially. When George VI acceded to the throne, his image was placed to face left, implying that, had any coins been minted with Edward's portrait the obverses would have depicted Edward facing right and maintained the tradition.

Current UK coinage features the following abbreviated Latin inscription: {{lang|la|D[EI] G[RATIA] REX F[IDEI] D[EFENSOR]}} ('[[By the Grace of God]] King, [[Fidei defensor|Defender of the Faith]]'). Earlier issues, before 1954, included {{lang|la|BRIT[ANNIARUM] OMN[IUM]}} ('of all the Britains'{{snd}}that is, Britain and its dominions) and, before 1949, {{lang|la|IND[IAE] IMP[ERATOR]}} ('[[Emperor of India]]').