Emilio Monti was born in Milan in 1901 and died in 1981, aged 80. He studied at the Brera Accademia di Belle Arti where Giannino Castiglioni, Giuseppe Graziosi and the painter Ambrogio Alciati were his teachers. For 20 years he taught at the school of industrial design at Castello Sforzesco.
A sculptor and medal maker, he collaborated for some 40 years with the Stefano Johnson Company of Milan. He specialised in portraits.

This medal shows the young Queen Elizabeth II and was issued to commemorate her coronation on June 2nd, 1953. The portrait is vivid and less formal then on contemporary British issues.

The Stefano Johnson Company was founded in Milan in 1836. It is the oldest manufacturer of medals in Italy and is still run by descendants of the founder: the siblings Riccardo and Mariangela Johnson. The company has worked with other renowned artist like Emilio Greco, Luciano Minguzzi, Floriano Bodini, Enrico Manfrini, Arnaldo Pomodoro and Venanzo Crocetti.
They regularly receive commissions from the Italian Republic and the Vatican City State as well as the Holy See.