Obverse. Photo © RARITETUS.ru
  • 2 Pounds 1997, KM# 976, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II
  • 2 Pounds 1997, KM# 976, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II
Description

The new bi-metallic design replaced a series of commemorative, uni-metallic coins which were issued between 1986 and 1996 to celebrate special occasions. Although legal tender, these coins have never been common in everyday circulation.

This was the first bi-metallic coin to be produced for circulation in Britain since the tin farthing with a copper plug produced in 1692, and is the highest denomination coin in common circulation in the UK.

Obverse

Third crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the George IV State Diadem.

The George IV State Diadem, officially the Diamond Diadem, is a type of crown that was made in 1820 for King George IV. The diadem is worn by queens and queens consort in procession to coronations and State Openings of Parliament. The piece of jewellery has been featured in paintings and on stamps and currency. It can be seen in the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX means Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith.

Engraver: Raphael David Maklouf

ELIZABETH·II·DEI·GRATIA·REGINA·F·D +
RDM

Reverse

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. An oddity of the design is that it depicts nineteen interlocking gears. Because there is an odd number of them, the mechanism could not actually turn (except as a Möbius strip).

Engraver: Bruce Rushin

TWO POUNDS
BR
1997

Edge

The edge inscription taken from a letter by 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." (Newton was Warden and later Master of the Royal Mint.)

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

2 Pounds

3rd portrait, Technology
KM# 976 Sp# K8
Characteristics
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Nickel Brass
Center Cupronickel
Weight 12 g
Diameter 28.4 mm
Thickness 2.5 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Royal Mint

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