Iconic images on old coins mini marvels

An Essex-based artist has painted British landmarks and the Mona Lisa on coins to showcase the “beauty” of miniature.

Yvonne Jack was exhibiting a mixture of art pieces at a pop-up gallery in Southend-on-Sea in March 2022, which led to her dabbling in painting on pre-decimal coins – coins struck before the change to decimal in 1971.

“The woman who ran the pop-up gallery was doing an exhibition at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate the new city of Southendon-Sea and she said, ‘I’ve got these old coins, can you paint something on them for this exhibition?’” the 48-year-old, who is based in Thundersley, said.

“I did four coins for her and she took them and said loads of people really loved them and then it just became a bit of a challenge to see what else I could fit on this really tiny space.”

So far, Ms Jack has completed more than 50 paintings.

These include Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, as well as buildings including Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower.

The process begins with her painting each coin white to get a base and sticking it to a table.

“I start off with painting a very rough outline using tiny brushes,” she said.

“It’s a very enjoyable process, the discipline of painting that small.”

She posts her work to TikTok and Instagram and said the most common comment she gets from followers is: “Oh my God, how can you do that?”

One of her highlights from the project has been showcasing four of her coins, including the Houses of Parliament one, at the Royal Miniature Society Annual Exhibition, which ran from June to July 2023 at Bankside Gallery, London.

“I’d never realised there were things like the Royal Miniature Society and just to meet these like-minded people was great and it spurs you on to make things that are even more detailed,” she said.

This year, she hopes five more of her coins will make an appearance.

“The deadline for this year’s exhibition is April

29,” she said.

“I’m going to enter the Mona Lisa, (Joseph Mallord William) Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, Tate St Ives and a pocket-size The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

“For the fifth one, I’m not sure what I’m going to do but I’m thinking possibly a portrait of someone.”

‘HOW DO YOU DO THAT’?: London landmarks including Tower Bridge are among the tiny scenes painted by Yvonne Jack on coins that have wowed her followers on social media.