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Four different £2 coins were issued in 2013. Three commemorative coins, two to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground and one to mark the 350th anniversary of the gold guinea coin. The standard coin with the ages of man reverse was also issued.
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 28: (info on coin type numbers here)
Obverse Type 2b (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Edwina Ellis):
Edge: MIND THE GAP.
Mintage for Circulation: 1,560,000.
Collectability/Scarcity: 2 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The obverse has the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley. The reverse omits the denomination ‘TWO POUNDS’, so this has been incorporated into the obverse and is shown at the bottom.
The reverse is by Edwina Ellis and shows the London Underground roundel logo. The London Underground network was started in 1863 with six stations on one line. The steam and smoke from the trains meant that they initially ran quite close to the surface. Deeper tunnels could be used by the beginning of the 19th century due to new electric train technology:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 29: (info on coin type numbers here)
Obverse Type 2b (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby):
Edge: A pattern of circles connected by lines.
Mintage for Circulation: 1,690,000.
Collectability/Scarcity: 2 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The obverse has the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley. The reverse omits the denomination ‘TWO POUNDS’, so this has been incorporated into the obverse and is shown at the bottom.
The reverse by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby shows an underground train on tracks, from the from. See type 28 above, for more details.
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 30: (info on coin type numbers here)
Obverse Type 2b (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Anthony Smith):
Edge: WHAT IS A GUINEA? ‘TIS A SPLENDID THING.
Mintage for Circulation: 2,990,000.
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 omits the denomination ‘TWO POUNDS’, so this has been incorporated into the obverse and is shown at the bottom.
The reverse by Anthony Smith shows the spade shaped Royal Arms, very similar to the design that appeared on the ‘spade’ guineas of George III. The edge quote is attributed to Stephen Kemble (1809). The gold guinea was introduced in 1663 and was the main gold denomination until it was replaced by the sovereign in 1817:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_(British_coin)
The Standard Coin for 2013:
Obverse Type (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Bruce Rushin):
Edge: STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS.
Mintage for Circulation: 15,860,250.
Collectability/Scarcity: 1 (for scale details see here).
The story behind the design:
The obverse portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley has been used on all UK coinage from 1998 to 2015 and is the fourth portrait of the Queen used on coinage. At the time of writing, this portrait is due to be replaced by a new one, to be unveiled in 2015.
The reverse design shows technological 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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