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Two pound coin
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==Design== [[File:British_two_pound_coin_2015_reverse.png|thumb|150px|left|The original reverse design, by Bruce Rushin]] The original [[Obverse and reverse|reverse]] of the coin, designed by [[Bruce Rushin]], is an abstract design symbolising the history of technological achievement, accompanied by the words <small>TWO POUNDS</small> above, and the year of minting below. This was the first [[bi-metallic coin]] to be produced for circulation in Britain since the [[Farthing (English coin)#Tin farthings|tin farthing]] with a copper plug produced in 1692, and is the highest-denomination coin in common circulation in the UK. The coin consists of an outer yellow metal nickel-brass ring made from 76% [[copper]], 20% [[zinc]], and 4% [[nickel]], and an inner steel-coloured cupro-nickel disc made from 75% copper, 25% nickel. The coin weighs {{Convert|12|g|oz}} and is {{Convert|2.84|cm|in}} in diameter. The design itself was first tried out in 1994 when the [[Royal Mint]] produced a short run of demonstration pieces to the new bi-metal standard. These pieces were not for circulation and were simply intended to test the manufacturing process. The coin was technically similar to the version which eventually entered circulation with the Maklouf effigy of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] on the obverse and the image of a sailing ship similar to that previously used on the reverse of the [[Β½d (British pre-decimal coin)|pre-decimal halfpenny]] piece. The inscription on the reverse read <small>ROYAL MINT TRIAL 1994</small> with an edge inscription based on the one pound coin which read <small>DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI XLVI</small>, meaning "An ornament and a safeguard β [in the] 46th year of [her] reign". The 1994 pieces were never legal tender but were eventually released for sale as part of a presentation set in 1998. At the same time in 1994 the Royal Mint produced a mono-metallic trial two-pound coin, with the same ship reverse and inscription, but otherwise similar to the earlier commemorative coins. These were never issued in presentation sets, and so are much scarcer than the bi-metallic version. Because of technical difficulties, the 1997-dated coins, which bear the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by [[Raphael Maklouf]], were not released to circulation until June 1998 (the same time as the 1998-dated coins). Coins dated 1998 and later bear the effigy of the Queen by [[Ian Rank-Broadley]]. The Maklouf-effigy coins bear the inscription <small>ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D</small><ref group="n" name="inscr"/> on the obverse; the Rank-Broadley coins bear the inscription <small>ELIZABETH II DEI GRA REG FID DEF</small>.<ref group="n" name="inscr"/> The reverse of the regular-issue coin, designed by Bruce Rushin, bears 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 <small>TWO POUNDS</small> above the design and the date below. An oddity of the design is that it depicts nineteen interlocking gears. Because it is an odd number of gears, the mechanism could not actually turn. The coin has the edge [[inscription]] <small>STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS</small>, a quote 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. In February 2015, the Royal Mint announced that a new design featuring [[Britannia]] by [[Antony Dufort]] would replace the previous design.<ref>[http://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/ranges/britannia A symbol of optimism BRITANNIA RETURNS] Royal Mint (www.royalmint.com). Retrieved on 2015-03-01.</ref> The new coins feature the edge inscription <small>QUATUOR MARIA VINDICO</small>, meaning "I claim the four seas", an inscription previously featured on coins bearing the image of Britannia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalmint.com/shop/The_Definitive_2015_United_Kingdom_2_pound_Brilliant_Uncirculated_Coin?tab=detail#productdetails |title= The Definitive 2015 United Kingdom Β£2 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin |access-date=2015-03-02 |publisher=Royal Mint |date=2015}}</ref><ref name="Snelling1762">{{cite book|author=Thomas Snelling|title=A View of the Silver Coin and Coinage of England, from the Norman Conquest to the Present Time: Consider'd with Regard to Type, Legend, Sorts, Rarity, Weight, Fineness and Value : with Copper Plates|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_12AGAAAAQAAJ|year=1762|publisher=T. Snelling|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_12AGAAAAQAAJ/page/n51 34]}}</ref> In October 2023 the King Charles III two-pound coin was presented; the coin features the national flowers β a rose for England, a daffodil for Wales, a thistle for Scotland and a shamrock for Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67091137|title=King Charles III new coins designed to help children to count|date=October 12, 2023|via=www.bbc.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalmint.com/annual-sets/2023/definitives/|title=2023 Definitives | The Royal Mint|website=www.royalmint.com}}</ref> The coin has the edge inscription <small>IN SERVITIO OMNIUM</small> ("In the service of all"), taken from the King's inaugural speech in September 2022.
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