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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

decimal two pence

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, 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 to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

(often shortened to 2p in writing and speech) is a denomination of sterling coinage equalling 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 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. In 2008 the design on its reverse changed from the original depiction of a plume of 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. Two pence coins are

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that Standard of deferred payment, courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment in court for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything ...

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 as it was the transition year, however in 1998 a small quantity of bronze two pences were made alongside the standard copper-plated steel. The number of bronze two pences from this year was 98,676,000 versus the 115,154,000 copper-plate steel. 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 official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

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

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

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 an exa ...

s within a

coronet In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of ra ...

, above the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

("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, indi ...

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."Royal Mint unveils new UK coins"
, 2 April 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 re-designed 2p coin depicts the second quarter of the shield, showing the Lion Rampant from the Royal Banner of Scotland, with the words above. The beading was removed from both sides of the coin in the 2008 re-design. In October 2023 the

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

two-pence coin was presented; the reverse features a

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia. Taxonomy There have been ...

Obverse

Five different

obverse The obverse and reverse are 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, ''obverse'' ...

s were used during the reign of

: 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 Elizabeth II were used on the coin: * As with all new decimal currency, until 1984 the portrait of Elizabeth II by

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

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 Raphael David Maklouf (born 10 December 1937) is a British sculptor, best known for designing an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II used on the coins of many Commonwealth nations. Maklouf was born in Jerusalem, to a Jewish family; his father was Sa ...

was used, in which the Queen wears the

George IV State Diadem The Diamond Diadem, historically known as the George IV State Diadem, is a diadem that was made in 1820 for King George IV. The diadem has been worn by queens regnant and queens consort in procession to coronations and State Openings of Pa ...

. 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 Royal British Society of Sculptors, FRBS (born 1952) is a British sculpture, sculptor who has produced many acclaimed works, among which are several designs for British coinage and the Statue of Diana, Princess of Wales, memor ...

was used, again featuring the

tiara A tiara (, ) is a head ornament adorned with jewels. Its origins date back to ancient Greco-Roman world. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women at formal occasions ...

, with a signature-mark below the portrait. * From 2015 to 2022, coins bore the portrait by Jody Clark.

Mintages

Mint sets have been produced since 1982; where mintages on or after that date indicate '0', there are examples contained within those sets.

References

External links

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