Sandra’s Masterpiece: The Queen’s Last Coin

Applause, smiles, handshakes. She in the center of the room, everyone’s eyes focused on her and one gaze more important than the others, that of mother Rosalba, full of pride and approval. It is at that moment that Sandra Deiana understands that her path has been traced, there are no more doubts. It is 2016, Sandra is 26 years old and she is in Dublin at the ceremony organized by the Central Bank of Ireland to present the 10 euro silver coin created to commemorate Eileen Gray, Irish designer and architect. Sandra is there as a protagonist, because she is the artist who created the first coin dedicated to a woman, a very important professional for Ireland to the point that her commemorative coin has been exhibited at the National Museum in Dublin since that day. to which the Bank donated it. In those moments, Sandra Deiana understands that it’s right to caress dreams, also because sometimes they don’t stay like this forever. Six years later, there are the initials S.D. engraved on the Britannia 2022 coin, the last commemorative coin of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away in September after 70 years of reign: Sandra, now 32, is the first Italian artist to sign a coin for the United Kingdom after more than 150 years. She, born in Cagliari and raised in Settimo San Pietro, is “a simple woman who does extraordinary things”: for this reason, for her enormous talent, in December she received the prestigious Standout Woman Award at Palazzo Montecitorio. In Rome, where her passion for her and her first sketches were born. Where it all began.

The coin on the ground There is a childhood episode that Sandra remembers clearly, in every detail. «I was seven years old, I was with my father Vittorio in Costa Rei, in a land where we used to camp in the summer. My father was doing some work and digging in the ground, when suddenly a coin jumped out. I perfectly remember the gesture of my father who cleaned it from the earth with his hand. It was made of silver, very beautiful, dating back to the 1700s and probably linked to the Spanish domination. We took it home, where we still keep it. I was very fascinated.” Years go by and Sandra concludes her studies at the Art School of Cagliari, then after high school she enrolls in Rome at the Academy of Fine Arts. She will live in the capital for 10 years, but she will abandon the Academy after two, because it was not the right school for her. «I learned of a call for tender at the Scuola dell’Arte della Medaglia, the institute of the State Mint, founded in 1907 at the behest of King Vittorio Emanuele III. They admit only 12 students for each three-year period, I try and pass the selection. It is not easy to explain to my parents that I will leave the Academy: I come from a humble family that makes many sacrifices to let me study and dreams of seeing me graduate. But the idea of designing coins is a magnet, I don’t know yet what I will be when I grow up but I know that I often think back to that coin I found with my father when I was a child».

Studies in Rome In the elegant building in via Principe Umberto, in the Esquilino district, they trained as coin designers and engravers. For Sandra Deiana it was a very intense three-year period during which her passion was confirmed and strengthened and she stood out for her great talent. Among the teachers is Uliana Pernazza, professor of modeling and engraver at the State Mint, one of the very few, an absolute excellence who specialized in that very school: «She teaches me the art of design and relief, takes me inside his world, I begin to understand that he belongs to me too». The permanence in the school extends beyond three years: thanks to her abilities, Sandra wins a two-year scholarship to which an additional 12 months are added. «I stayed 6 years and I’m still there when I participate in the Central Bank of Ireland competition: to my amazement I am selected and I win it».

Career Dublin is the turning point, both internally and professionally. Despite the skepticism of many: «They told me that designing medals would hardly become a job, because entering the Italian Mint is complicated and there is no private market in our country. In fact, most of the students of the School of the Medal embrace other careers thanks to the skills acquired in the goldsmithing, embossing and chiselling courses. One of the very few free lance coin designers is Chiara Principe, a student of the school before me: we became friends and in 2019 we were invited to the Shanghai Coin design forum & award, an international event organized by the Shanghai Mint to strengthen exchanges on coin design in the world. There were three of us from Italy: me, Chiara and Loredana Pancotto». Sandra arrives in Shanghai after another exciting experience in the United States: «In 2018 I attended the specialization course held by Heidi Wastweet in South Carolina, a well-established medalist from whom I learned a lot and who made me fall in love with America, where one day I hope to move.

Britannia 2022

In 2021 Sandra Deiana is invited by the Royal Mint, with which she collaborates, to participate together with other artists in the selection for Britannia 2022, the commemorative coin that represents the identity of the nation. «Obviously I say yes and they show me the chosen theme: “The three ages of women, inspired by the 1905 painting by Gustav Klimt”. For several days the sheet remains blank and the idea begins to take shape in Sandra’s head. «One afternoon I feel I have the right inspiration and the draft comes out. When Simone, my boyfriend, comes home, I’ll show her to him. Then we watch the news and discover that it is the Queen’s birthday: it is April 21st. It’s fantastic that the inspiration came to me on that day». And it is a winning inspiration, because Sandra’s sketch is chosen: she will be the one to create Britannia 2022 with her interpretation of the three ages of woman. «I chose to represent Britain as it passes from infancy to maturity: child, to depict the nation at birth, peaceful and with an olive tree in her hair, an adult with a helmet on her head in a classic image, and Britain in the present day ours, an elderly but modern and elegant woman who carries the country’s flag on her shoulders ».

Gold And Silver Series

The Britannia 2022 was issued on 8 March in a gold and silver series: it will be the last to feature the Queen’s effigy on the reverse. “For me it is an incredible emotion, I am proud to have been chosen to represent the identity of a nation that is not mine through currency”. But the victory for Sandra was double: after choosing her design, the Royal Mint asked her to also create the model. You are one of the few coin designers who do not use 3D technology but do traditional manual modeling with plaster. An art learned in Rome, at the Scuola della Medaglia, where it all began.

This article is originally published on .lanuovasardegna.it