Coins of England and Great Britain
by Tony Clayton
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Coins of England and Great Britainby Tony Clayton |
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30s <<-- : -->> 50s and 60s
Values of Two Pounds and Two Guineas
Pictures of Two Pounds and Two Guineas on www.ukcoinpics.co.uk
A double sovereign of Henry VII is known where the sovereign dies were used but the flan is twice the normal thickness. It is probable that it was specially minted as a presentation piece.
As for the five guinea and one guinea coins, this was originally valued at two pounds, but it varied as the price of gold fluctuated, until the guinea was fixed at 21 shillings in 1717.
There are a wide range of issues from 1664 in the reign of Charles II through to 1714 in the reign of Queen Anne, after which its value was fixed at 42 rather than the original 40 shillings.
Scarce coins are as follows:
Charles II: 1665 (unique?), 1669 (very rare), 1678 with elephant below head (The latter is not to be confused with the relatively common 1678 with elephant and castle).
William & Mary: 1691 elephant & castle
There is no VIGO piece in this denomination for Queen Anne.
Once the value of the two guinea piece was fixed at 42 shillings in 1717, very few further issues were made.
Dates are as follows:
George I: 1717, 1720 (scarce), 1726
George II: 1734-35, 1738-1740 , 1748 and 1753.
No two guinea pieces were minted after 1753.
From 1739 the edge was made with a chevron pattern rather than the normal diagonal milling of the time, as there was a gang of filers in action.
Unlike the five pound coin, the gold two pound was issued in 1823 as a currency piece. However, it never reached widespread circulation as such. The two pound gold coin weighs 16 g and has a diameter of 28 mm.
Issues in gold were as follows:
George IV: 1823 (proofs of 1825 and 1826 exist)
William IV: 1831 (proof only)
Victoria: 1887, 1893 (proofs exist for both years. A very rare Sydney Mint proof of 1887 exists)
Edward VII: 1902 (also matt proof and very rare Sydney Mint matt proof)
George V: 1911 proof
Edward VIII: a very rare 1937 pattern is known.
George VI: 1937 proof. This coin has a plain edge instead of the usual milled edge.
Elizabeth II: 1953 proof (exceedingly rare), 1980, 1982-83, 1985-date (all proof)
The nickel-brass issues of 1986, 1994 and 1995 were minted in gold as well, supplanting the normal George & dragon types for those years.
For information on the nickel-brass and bimetallic Two Pound coins see the Decimal Coin section.
See my Main Coins Index page for acknowledgements
Main Index
Previous page - Thirty Shillings
Next page - Fifty & Sixty Shillings
Base-metal Two Pound coins
Values Index
Values of Two Guinea and Two Pound coins.
Values of Decimal Two Pound coins.
Pictures of Two Guineas and Double Sovereigns
Pictures Index
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