2006 Two Pounds

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Three different £2 coins were issued in 2006. Two commemorative coins, both to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (one for the man and the other to represent his achievements). And the standard coin with the ages of man reverse.

Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 15: (info on coin type numbers here)

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

2pounds1998-obv

Reverse Type (design by Rod Kelly):

2pounds2006revbrunel

Edge: 1806-59  ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL  ENGINEER.

Mintage for Circulation: 7,928,250.

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 is by Rod Kelly and shows Isambard Kingdom Brunel in an industrial setting, with a wheel and machinery behind him and an outer ring of chains. Engineer, bridge, railway and ship building pioneer Isambard Kingdom Brunel changed Britain and significantly shaped modern shipping, rail travel and bridge building. He was born on the 9th April 1806 in Portsmouth:

http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/story/isambard-kingdom-brunel?gclid=CPT1zorV88MCFS7MtAodG3IARg

Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 16: (info on coin type numbers here)

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

2pounds1998-obv

Reverse Type (design by Robert Evans):

brunelarches2006

Edge: SO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE.

Mintage for Circulation: 7,452,250.

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

There are known fakes of this coin, first seen in October 2016. The reverse of the fake coin is of very good quality. Fortunately the obverse is of lesser quality, the detail to the Queen is inaccurate and some of the dots around the rim are poorly defined/missing. This fake obverse is also shared with the 2007 Anniversary of the Union fake.

The story behind the design:

The obverse has the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley. The reverse is by Robert Evans  and represents the engineering achievements of Isambard Kingdom Brunel:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/brunel_kingdom_isambard.shtml

The Standard Coin for 2006:

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

2pounds1998-obv

Reverse Type (design by Bruce Rushin):

2poundsStandardrev

Edge: STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS.

Mintage for Circulation: 16,715,000.

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 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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