Iconic Lord Kitchener image graces UK £2 coin

An iconic image of the City of Kitchener's namesake will soon be in circulation on the back of the United Kingdom's £2 coin.

A picture of Lord Kitchener, which first appeared on a British Army recruitment campaign poster, is on the first of a series of coins that commemorate WWI "from outbreak to armistice," said the Royal Mint.

Horatio Herbert Kitchener was appointed Britain's secretary of state for war in 1914 and put in charge of recruitment.

"Though many posters encouraged the men of Britain to enlist, the image of Kitchener himself has come to stand for the call to fight for King and country that saw men respond in their thousands," the mint explains on their website.

Kitchener was killed in 1916 on board navy ship HMS Hampshire. It sank after hitting a mine off the west coast of Scotland.

During that time a movement began in what was then known as Berlin, Ontario, to change the city's name. The Berlin Board of Trade worried the city's name hurt business and gave the appearance that residents were unpatriotic and sympathized with enemy Germany. 

Lord Kitchener's name was put forward in a referendum and the municipality became the City of Kitchener on Sept. 1, 1916.

Lord Kitchener's call to arms coin will go into circulation in the UK on January 1.