Three beautiful ladies

I tried to post these when the server crashed the first time and was most surprised to find they had vanished. It was that day of freezing fog so I stayed in with an SMC 'A' 50mm macro and made some portraits. They are presented in date order so that no lady should be offended .....



Saint Jagwiga was the very first Polish Queen and was crowned King (Yes !) in 1384 at the age of 10. She married at age 12 and founded a dynasty. She has been revered by Polish people through the centuries for her piety, charity and generosity and was beatified in 1986 to become the patron saint of Queens.
This is a gorgeous art deco 5 zloti coin from 1933 with radiating wheat ears making a lovely halo.




All older British people will know this portrait by Mary Gillick, made (I think in 1953) when the Queen was just 25 years old. The likeness to her father is striking. This is a 1967 halfpenny.




This mint 500 lire Italian coin is from 1966. The first was produced in 1957 and, since there were but 1024 of them, they are worth a fortune. Mass production began in 1958. They are known as Caravels due to Columbus' three ships appearing on the other side but this lovely portrait is of Letizia Savonitto, the wife of the master sculptor of the Italian mint, Pietro Giampaoli. He produced it as a gift to her for their 10th wedding anniversary (That could only happen in Italy!).

The descriptions are hardly 'photography' but coins are real perishers to photograph and ladies can be even more difficult - to photograph, that is !!