1999 Two Pounds

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1999 saw two different £2 coins. A commemorative coin for the Rugby World Cup and one with the standard ages of man reverse.

Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 8: (more information on coin type numbers here)

Obverse Type (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):

Reverse Type (design by Ron Dutton):

Edge: RUGBY WORLD CUP 1999.

Mintage for Circulation: 4,933,000.

Collectability/Scarcity: 1 (for scale details see here)

The story behind the design:

The obverse has the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley. The reverse of the coin coin has the designer Ron Dutton’s initials to the right. It features a rugby ball in the centre with goalposts around the edge. The 1999 Rugby World cup was officially hosted by Wales. Twenty teams took part. Matches were played in Wales, England, Ireland, Scotland and France. France played Australia in the fina at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Australia won 35 – 12.

The Standard Coin:

Obverse Type (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):

Reverse Type (design by Bruce Rushin):

Edge: STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS.

Mintage for Circulation: 33,719,000.

Collectability/Scarcity: 5 for an unused example with no signs of wear. 1 for a normal used example (for scale details see here). This coin wasn’t included in the Royal Mint annual year set (the Rugby coin was the only £2). Most of them have been in general use and they are harder to find in top un-used condition.

The story behind the design:

The obverse portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley was used on all UK coinage from 1998 to 2015. It is the fourth portrait of the Queen used on coinage.

The reverse design shows the ages of man. Represented are the Iron Age, the Industrial Revolution, the Electronic Age and the Internet Age. The edge quote ‘STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS’ is from a letter by Sir Isaac Newton from 1676 in which he wrote: ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’, which may have been a modest nod to other scientists, but some say that it may have been poking fun at the stature of the recipient of the letter, Robert Hooke. The expression ‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’ pre-dates Newton by many centuries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants

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