From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Two pence (British decimal coin)

British decimal coin

Summary

British decimal coin

Field	Value
Country	United Kingdom (UK)
Denomination	Two pence
Value	£0.02
Mass	7.12
Diameter	25.9
Thickness_special	{{plainlist
Edge	Plain
Composition	{{plainlist
Years of Minting	1971–present
Obverse	[[File:British two pence coin 2016 obverse.png	150px]]
Obverse Design	Queen Elizabeth II
Obverse Designer	Jody Clark
Obverse Design Date	2015
Reverse	[[File:British two pence coin 2015 reverse.png	150px]]
Reverse Design	Segment of the Royal Shield
Reverse Designer	Matthew Dent
Reverse Design Date	2008

(Bronze) 1.85 mm
(Steel) 2.03 mm
Bronze (1971–1992, 1998)
Copper-plated steel (1992–present) The British decimal two pence coin (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. 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 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. In May 2006, about 2.55 billion such coins remained in circulation, and the Royal Mint 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 feathers within a coronet, above the German motto ICH DIEN ("I serve"). The numeral "2" is written below the badge, and either NEW PENCE (1971–1981) or TWO PENCE (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 Royal Mint launched a competition 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 re-designed 2p coin depicts the second quarter of the shield, showing the Lion Rampant from the Royal Banner of Scotland, with the words TWO PENCE above.

The beading was removed from both sides of the coin in the 2008 re-design.

In October 2023 the King Charles III two-pence coin was presented; the reverse features a red squirrel.

Obverse

Five different obverses were used during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II: four different portraits and the removal of the beaded border in 2008. In all cases, the inscription is ELIZABETH II D.G.REG.F.D. 2013, 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 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 was used, again featuring the tiara, with a signature-mark IRB below the portrait.
From 2015 to 2022, coins bore the portrait by Jody Clark.

Mintages

Year	Number minted	Composition	Portrait	Reverse
1971	1,454,856,250	Bronze	Machin	Ironside
1972	In sets only
1973	In sets only
1974	In sets only
1975	145,545,000
1976	181,379,000
1977	109,281,000
1978	189,658,000
1979	260,200,000
1980	408,527,000
1981	353,191,000
1982	In sets only
1983	In sets only
1984	In sets only
1985	107,113,000	Maklouf
1986	168,967,500
1987	218,100,750
1988	419,889,000
1989	359,226,000
1990	204,499,700
1991	86,625,250
1992	102,247,000
Copper-plated steel
1993	235,674,000
1994	531,628,000
1995	124,482,000
1996	296,278,000
1997	496,116,000
1998	98,676,000	Bronze	Rank-Broadley
115,154,000	Copper-plated steel
1999	353,816,000
2000	563,659,000
2001	551,880,000
2002	168,556,000
2003	260,225,000
2004	356,396,000
2005	280,396,000
2006	170,637,000
2007	254,500,000
2008	10,600,000
241,679,000	Dent
2009	150,500,500
2010	99,600,000
2011	144,300,000
2012	67,800,000
2013	40,600,000
2014	247,600,020
2015	85,900,000
2015	139,200,000	Clark
2016	185,600,000
2017	16,600,000
2018	0
2019	0
2020	0
2021	117,700,000
2022	0
2023	0	Jennings	The Royal Mint

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

References

Bignell, C P. "Post decimalisation".
"Mintage Figures". Royal Mint.
[https://www.royalmint.com/help/trm-faqs/legal-tender-amounts/ What are the legal tender amounts acceptable for UK coins? The Royal Mint]
"2p Coin Designs and Specifications {{!}} The Royal Mint".
"Two Pence Mintage Figures". Royal Mint.
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1518128/Your-small-fortune-2p-coins-that-could-be-worth-3p-each.html "Your small fortune: 2p coins that could be worth 3p each"], ''Telegraph'', 12 May 2006
[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4766897.stm "Mint warns against melting coins"], BBC News, 12 May 2006
[http://www.lme.co.uk/copper_graphs.asp London Metal Exchange copper price graphs] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-11-07)
[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/dec/20/50-new-penny-piece#S5CV0775P0_19681220_CWA_6 "50 New Penny Piece"], Hansard, 20 December 1968
Clayton, Tony. "Decimal Coins of the UK – Two Pence".
[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4160122.stm "Royal Mint seeks new coin designs"], BBC News, 17 August 2005
[http://www.dofonline.co.uk/economy/royal-mint-unveils-new-uk-coins.html "Royal Mint unveils new UK coins"] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-09-07 , 2 April 2008)
(13 October 2023). "King Charles III new coins designed to help children to count". [[BBC News]].
"2023 Definitives: His Majesty King Charles III's First Definitive Coins".
"1p Coin". British Royal Mint.
"2p Two Pence Mintage Figures".
Banfield-Nwachi, Mabel. (2023-10-12). "Royal Mint unveils new coin design inspired by King Charles". The Guardian.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1971-establishments-in-the-united-kingdom coins-of-the-united-kingdom currencies-introduced-in-1971 decimalisation two-cent-coins

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Two pence (British decimal coin) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report