Fourth portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, when she was 77 years old, facing right and surrounded by the inscription. Date below.

Dei Gratia Regina (often abbreviated to D. G. Regina and seen as D·G·REGINA) is a Latin title meaning By the Grace of God, Queen.

Engraver: Susanna Blunt

Depicts Peterson playing the piano, with his hands in full motion, from which emerges a flowing musical scale showing two closing bars of his famous Hymn to Freedom. Peterson’s favourite colour (purple) conveys the joy and love of music that were evident every time he played.

Recognized as one of Oscar Peterson’s most significant compositions, Hymn to Freedom was written in 1962 and was swiftly embraced by people over the world as the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.

The piece was Peterson’s first major work and written with encouragement from his producer and dear friend Norman Granz. During those initial recording sessions, Granz urged Peterson to create a tune with a “definitive early-blues feel”.

For inspiration, Peterson drew upon various church renderings of Negro spirituals recalled from his childhood in Montreal. He aimed to maintain the unadorned, yet poignant quality of these early Baptist hymns while composing the beginning chorus of Hymn to Freedom. Upon its completion, Peterson and Granz decided that lyrics would complement the music and contacted Malcolm Dodds, composer, arranger and choir director of The Malcolm Dodds Singers; a backup group for many popular artists of the day.

Dodds turned to his collaborator Harriette Hamilton, who had been writing lyrics for the choir group’s original compositions for several years. According to Hamilton, “all the lyrics had to do was express in very simple language the hope for unity, peace and dignity for mankind. It was easy to write.”

Engraver: Valentine De Landro