Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 2 Pence 1998-2003, KM# 774, Gibraltar, Elizabeth II
  • 2 Pence 1998-2003, KM# 774, Gibraltar, Elizabeth II
Description

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne. The territory was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Obverse

Fourth crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara.

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara was a wedding present in 1947 from her grandmother, Queen Mary, who received it as a gift from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland in 1893 on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York, later George V. Made by E. Wolfe & Co., it was purchased from Garrard & Co. by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1914, Mary adapted the tiara to take 13 diamonds in place of the large oriental pearls surmounting the tiara. At first, Elizabeth wore the tiara without its base and pearls but the base was reattached in 1969. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of Elizabeth's most recognisable pieces of jewellery due to its widespread use on British banknotes and coinage.

Engraver: Ian Rank-Broadley

GIBRALTAR ELIZABETH II
IRB
1999

Reverse

Value above Europa Point Lighthouse.

The Europa Point Lighthouse, also referred to as the Trinity Lighthouse at Europa Point and the Victoria Tower or La Farola in Llanito, is a lighthouse at Europa Point, on the southeastern tip of Gibraltar, on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.

Europa Lighthouse was inaugurated on 1 August 1841. It is operated by Trinity House. The cylindrical tower is painted white, with a wide red horizontal band in the middle. The lighthouse has a height of 20 metres (66 ft) and is 49 metres (161 ft) above the high-water mark, and has a white light that occults every ten seconds.

AA, AB, AC, AD, BC are dieletters. These letters used are all uppercase and they take their distinctive style from Hiberno-Norse runes. They always appear on the reverse of the coins. Dieletters tell what die to stamp the coin was used. When AA gets worn or broken it is replaced by AB and so on. So AA is most common, AB is scarcer, etc.

Engraver: Alfred Ryman

TWO PENCE
2
PM
AA

Edge

2 Pence

4th portrait
KM# 774
Characteristics
Material Copper Plated Steel
Weight 7.12 g
Diameter 25.91 mm
Thickness 2.03 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Pobjoy Mint (PM)

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