The Story of the £2 Coin
- Romiley Coins
- Jun 9
- 4 min read
THE NON-BIMETALLICS
The first UK £2 coin was released in 1986 to commemorate the Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh.
This was actually the first in a series of seven commemorative designs released in a ten year period. Each coin was made entirely of single-coloured, nickel-brass, with a thicker weight and diameter than that of it's post-1997 successor.
The full range of non-bimetallic £2 coins are listed below with mintage figures in brackets:
1986 Scotland Commonwealth Games (8.2 million)
1989 Bill of Rights (4.39 million)
1989 Claim of Right (381,000)
1994 Bank of England (1.4 million)
1995 Dove of Peace (4.39 million)
1995 United Nations (1.66 million)
1996 European Championships (5.1 million)
Although legal tender, those earlier coins had never been common in everyday circulation.
Shop the non-bimetallic £2 coin range on our website
THE BI-METALLIC ERA
Following the popularity of the commemorative designs and after a review of the United Kingdom's coinage, it was decided that a general-circulation £2 coin was needed.
The new coin was the first bi-metallic coin to be used in Britain using nickel-brass for the outer ring and cupro-nickel for the centre.
THE FIRST DESIGN: TECHNOLOGY (1997-2015)
The first reverse for the new two pound coins was designed by Bruce Rushin.
The coin used an abstract design symbolising technological achievement and development.
Also known as 'Technology' or 'Standing on the Shoulders of Giants' as per the inscription on the outer ring.
The £2 coin was officially released in June 1998 but the Royal Mint had already prepared a batch of coins in advance. These were dated 1997 and featured the Raphael David Maklouf Portrait (the only bi-metallic £2 coins to use this portrait).
The 1998-2015 coins used the new Ian Rank-Broadley portrait.
The 1997 coin is often referred to as 'Necklace and Earrings,' as per the Queen's portrait.
Millions of Technology coins were circulated between 1998-2015.
According to the Royal Mint, as of March 2014 there were an estimated 417 million £2 coins in circulation with an estimated face value of £834 million.
THE SECOND DESIGN: BRITANNIA (2015-2022)
In February 2015 the Royal Mint introduced a new reverse design for the £2 coin.
This coincided with the brand new Jody Clark portrait, which was the final Queen Elizabeth II portrait to be used.
The new reverse design was by Antony Dufort and was his interpretation of 'Britannia' inspired by Christopher Ironside who's same design featured on the first decimilised coins.
In 2015 both the Technology and Britannia coins entered circulation.
However, the Britannia design would only be circulated for two years. After the 2016 release, the Royal Mint halted production of all £2 coins for general circulation.
After the release of the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017 it was determined no new £2 coins were required and therefore all £2 coins minted in or after 2017 would only feature as part of annual sets of BU presentation packs.
THE THIRD DESIGN: UK FLOWERS (2023-TO DATE)
The two pound coin received a further refresh in 2023, when the Royal Mint announced brand new definitive coins for the King Charles era.
The collection which features designs that celebrate British flora and fauna was approved by the monarch himself.
The two pound coin features all four of the traditional flowers of the UK. This theme has previously been used on one pound coins, including the original 12-sided £1 coin (2016-2022).
To date, no King Charles Flowers £2 coins have been circulated and in an era of declining coinage use, it remains to be seen if these designs will ever end up in our change.
In the meantime, you can shop all the King Charles Flowers £2 coins on our website. All four years (2023-2026) available.
THE COMMEMORATIVES
Since 1999 the Royal Mint has also released a number of commemorative £2 coins.
Up to 2016 these were circulated alongside the respective definitive design for that year.
The rarest £2 coins in circulation are the 2002 Commonwealth Games coins. The set of four was released to celebrate the Manchester Games and each coin in the set features a different flag for each of the UK nations.
The mintage figures are:
Northern Ireland (485,500)
Wales (588,500)
England (650.500)
Scotland (771,750)
These coins still remain highly sought after amongst collectors even 24 years later. No £2 coin has usurped the Northern Ireland figure as the lowest minted.
Since 2017 all commemorative £2 coins have been made for sale only. This has seen a huge spike in prices as they can retail in excess of ten times more than their face value.
In 2022 The Royal Mint released a special commemorative coin to celebrate 25 years of the £2 coin. The coin was essentially a reboot of the Technology design but with a '25' hologram in the centre.
Shop more commemorative £2 coins on our website.
Posted June 2026
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