Obverse. Photo © Royal Mint
  • 2 Pounds 2024, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Charles III, 150th Anniversary of Birth of Sir Winston Churchill
  • 2 Pounds 2024, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Charles III, 150th Anniversary of Birth of Sir Winston Churchill
  • 2 Pounds 2024, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Charles III, 150th Anniversary of Birth of Sir Winston Churchill, Proof piedfort set
Description

The Royal Mint released a £2 coin to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Winston Churchill.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874–1965) was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a non-academic historian, and a writer (as Winston S. Churchill). He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, lifetime body of work.

At the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. His speeches and radio broadcasts helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult days of 1940–41 when the British Commonwealth and Empire stood almost alone in its active opposition to Adolf Hitler. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.

After the Conservative Party suffered an unexpected defeat in the 1945 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. He publicly warned of an "Iron Curtain" of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. After winning the 1951 election, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His second term was preoccupied by foreign affairs, including the Malayan Emergency, Mau Mau Uprising, Korean War, and a UK-backed coup d'état in Iran. Upon his death aged ninety in 1965, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history.

A piedfort is an unusually thick coin, often exactly twice the normal weight and thickness of other coins of the same diameter and pattern. Piedforts are not normally circulated, and are only struck for presentation purposes by mint officials (such as patterns), or for collectors, dignitaries, and other VIPs.

Alloy:
• center: 0.925 sterling silver
• ring: 0.925 sterling silver plated with fine gold

Obverse

Depicts King Charles III’s effigy, surrounded by the Latin inscription. Engraver's initials on the neck.

CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX FIDEI DEFENSOR means King Charles III, by the Grace of God King, Defender of the Faith.

Engraver: Martin Jennings (MJ)

CHARLES III•D•G•REX•F•D•2 POUNDS•2024 •
MJ

Reverse

Depicts a portrait of Winston Churchill as a young man in 1895, garbed in the uniform of the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars. The inscription above with the date of his birth and death flanking the portrait.

Born in Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on 30 November 1874, Churchill developed a fascination with the military from an early age and joined the cavalry in 1895, serving in the 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars. His service in the military took him all over the world to countries such as Cuba, Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa, where he simultaneously served as a part-time journalist.

Engraver: Natasha Seaward (NJS)

150TH ANNIVERSARY OF BIRTH OF WINSTON CHURCHILL
1874 1965
NJS

Edge

A remark Churchill made in late 1953 during his second term as prime minister

· PAVE THE WAY FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM

Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Gold Plated Silver
Center Silver
Weight 24 g
Diameter 28.4 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Royal Mint

Related coins

Silver Proof Coin

150th Anniversary of Birth of Sir Winston Churchill

Bi-Metallic, 12 g, ⌀ 28.4 mm
Gold Proof Coin

150th Anniversary of Birth of Sir Winston Churchill

Bi-Metallic, 15.98 g, ⌀ 28.4 mm