IT’S THE LEGEND that appears around the edge of the British pound coin. Previously, high-value coins, especially those made of silver or other precious metals, were simply ‘milled’ – inscribed with vertical lines which would immediately show if the edges of the coin had been shaved off.
Decus et Tutamen means, in Latin, ‘an ornament and a safeguard’. The wording was first suggested by John Evelyn in 1662, and has been used on coins – on and off – ever since. But the phrase first came from Virgil’s Aeneid, written between 29 and 19 BC, and refers to the breastplate worn by Roman soldiers.
