4th Machin cast found

UK's Telegraph reports a rare original plaster cast used to create the effigy of the Queen's head, which is used on stamps, has been uncovered.

According to the article by Richard Alleyne, only a handful of casts were ever made by renowned sculptor Arnold Machin. Three of them are kept by the Royal Mail but a fourth has been discovered in the cupboard of the artist's former studio and is to be auctioned off.

Alleyne goes on to say,"The 1966 design [shown above] is said to be so well-liked by the Queen that she has declined to have it updated and changed over the years, unlike her effigy on coinage. It is still seen on almost every British stamp today and some 320 billion copies have been made over the last 40 years, making it the most reproduced work of art in history."

The sale is at the Moat House Hotel, Acton Trussell, Staffs, on October 1.

To read the entire article, click here.