British coin Two Pounds Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
This article discusses the British Two Pounds coins, both the commemorative issues issued between 1986 and 1996, and the regular bimetallic circulation coin first issued in 1998, dated 1997, only. For earlier Two Pounds coins issued in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, please see here.
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2 The modern coin (1997-) 3 See also |
The commemorative Two Pounds (£2) coin was minted from the same composition as the £1 coin, i.e. a nickel-brass alloy of approximately 70% copper, 24.5% nickel, and 5.5% zinc. The coin weighs 15.98 grams and has a diameter of 28.40 millimetres.
The only obverse used by the commemorative £2 coin is the head of Queen Elizabeth II by Raphael Maklouf, with the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D TWO POUNDS.
There were seven issues of this coin, with the following reverses and inscriptions:
In 1997 a new design was produced, intended to circulate on a daily basis. It is the first bi-metallic coin to be produced for circulation in Britain since the tin farthings with a copper plug, produced in 1692. The coins consist of an outer gold-coloured nickel-brass ring, comprised of 76% copper, 20% zinc, and 4% nickel, and an inner silver-coloured cupro-nickel inner disc comprised of 75% copper, 25% nickel. The coins weigh 12.00 grams and are 28.40 millimetres in diameter.
Because of technical difficulties, the 1997-dated coins which bear the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Raphael Maklouf were not released to circulation until June 1998 (the same time as the 1998-dated coins). 1998 and later dated coins bear the effigy of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley. The comparative rarity of the Maklouf coins ("the ones with the necklace") has led to an urban legend that they are much more valuable than the other coins, but this is absolutely not true -- there are over 13 million 1997-dated £2's in circulation. The Maklouf-effigy coins bear the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D on the obverse; the Rank-Broadley coins bear the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRA REG FID DEF.
Another urban legend about the coin is that if you place it in the freezer overnight, the cupro-nickel centre will pop out.
The normal reverse of the coin, designed by Bruce Rushin, bears a concentric design symbolically representing technological development from the Iron Age, through the Industrial Revolution and the Electronic Age to the Internet, with the inscription TWO POUNDS above the design and the date below. The coin has the edge inscription STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS taken from a letter by Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke, in which he describes how his work was built on the knowledge of those that had gone before him. "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
This denomination is now commonly used for commemorative purposes, and the following varieties have been issued:
The commemorative coin (1986-1996)
These coins tended not to circulate at the time of their issue, but they do seem to appear in circulation more often now that there is also a circulating coin of this denomination.The modern coin (1997-)