The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

decimal two pence

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

(often shortened to 2p in writing and speech) is a denomination of sterling coinage equalling 2/100ths of a pound. Since the coin's introduction on 15 February 1971, the year British currency was decimalised, its obverse has featured four profiles of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. In 2008 the design on its reverse changed from the original depiction of a plume ostrich feathers with a coronet to a segment of the Royal Shield. The two pence coin was originally minted from bronze, but changed in 1992 to copper-plated steel. As of March 2014 there were an estimated 6.55 billion 2p coins in circulation corresponding to a value of £131 million. 2p coins are

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...

for amounts only up to the sum of 20p when offered in repayment of a debt; however, the coin's legal tender status is not normally relevant for everyday transactions.

Composition

From its first minting in 1971 until 1992, two pence coins were made from bronze. In 1992, this was changed to copper-plated steel because of the increasing price of copper used to make bronze. Both the bronze and steel versions were made in 1992 only. By May 2006 the pre-1992 (97% copper) coins contained 3p worth of copper each."Your small fortune: 2p coins that could be worth 3p each"
''Telegraph'', 12 May 2006 In May 2006, about 2.55 billion such coins remained in circulation, and the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury and is un ...

warned that tampering with coinage is illegal in the UK. During 2008, the value of copper fell dramatically from these peaks.

Design

Reverse

The original reverse of the coin, designed by

Christopher Ironside Christopher Ironside OBE, FRBS (11 July 1913, London – 13 July 1992, Winchester, Hampshire) was an English painter and coin designer, particularly known for the reverse sides of the new British coins issued on decimalisation in 1971. Life an ...

, and used from 1971 to 2008, is the Badge of the Prince of Wales: a plume of

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premie ...

s within a

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara doe ...

, above the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

("I serve"). The numeral "2" is written below the badge, and either (1971–1981) or (from 1982) is written above. A small number of 1983 mintage coins exist with the "New Pence" wording. It was originally planned that an alternative version of the 2p would be minted with a design representing Northern Ireland; these plans never came to fruition. The same design was also re-cut in 1993 producing two minor varieties for that year. In August 2005 the

launched a

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, ind ...

to find new reverse designs for all circulating coins apart from the £2 coin. The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from mid-2008. The designs for the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins depict sections of the Royal Shield that form the whole shield when placed together. The shield in its entirety was featured on the now-obsolete round £1 coin. The redesigned 2p coin depicts the second quarter of the shield, showing the

Lion Rampant The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts". The lion also carries Judeo-Chris ...

from the Royal Banner of Scotland, with the words above. The beading was removed from both sides of the coin in the 2008 redesign.

Obverse

To date, five different

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

s have been used: four different portraits and the removal of the beaded border in 2008. In all cases, the inscription is , where 2013 is replaced by the year of minting. In the original design both sides of the coin are encircled by dots, a common feature on coins, known as beading. Four different portraits of the Queen have been used on the coin: * As with all new decimal currency, until 1984 the portrait of

Arnold Machin Arnold Machin OBE, R.A., FRSS (; 30 September 1911 – 9 March 1999) was a British artist, sculptor, and coin and postage stamp designer. Life Machin was born Stoke-on-Trent in 1911. He started work at the age of 14 as an apprentice china pai ...

appeared on the obverse, in which the Queen wears the 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara. * Between 1985 and 1997 the portrait by Raphael Maklouf was used, in which the Queen wears the George IV State Diadem. In 1992 the metal used in minting this coin was switched from bronze to copper-plated steel, with a single year of using both alloys in 1998. * From 1998 to 2015 the portrait by

Ian Rank-Broadley Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS (born 1952) is a British sculptor who has produced many acclaimed works, among which are several designs for British coinage and the memorial statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London unveiled on her 60th ...

was used, again featuring the

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

, with a signature-mark below the portrait. * As of June 2015, coins bearing the portrait by

Jody Clark Jody Clark (born 1 March 1981) is a British engraver formerly employed by the Royal Mint. He designed the fifth and final portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to feature on coins of the pound sterling, and that portrait was the fifth and final to fea ...

have been seen in circulation.

Status as legal tender

2p coins are

for amounts up to and including 20 pence. However, in the UK, "legal tender" has a very specific and narrow meaning which relates only to the repayment of debt to a creditor, not to everyday shopping or other transactions. Specifically, coins of particular denominations are said to be "legal tender" when a creditor must by law accept them in redemption of a debt. The term does not mean - as is often thought - that a shopkeeper has to accept a particular type of currency in payment. A shopkeeper is under no obligation to accept any specific type of payment, whether legal tender or not; conversely they have the discretion to accept any payment type they wish.

Mintages

''Mintage figures below represent the number of coins of each date released for circulation. Mint Sets have been produced since 1982; where mintages on or after that date indicate 'none', there are examples contained within those sets.''

References

External links

Royal Mint – 2p coinTwo Pence, Coin Type from United Kingdom
{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Pence (British Decimal Coin) Coins of the United Kingdom Currencies introduced in 1971 Decimalisation Two-cent coins