Two Pounds 2005 Gunpowder Plot, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

The bi-metallic £2 coin is the largest circulating coin denomination of the Pound Sterling. It was introduced in 1998 (earlier two pound coins were made of Nickel brass, were intended as commemorative, and did not circulate much). Being bi-metallic means that the coin comprises two separate components of differing alloys - a Nickel-Brass outer ring with inner circle of CuproNickel.

The Royal Mint maintains a "definitive" style of the £2 issued annually, as well as a large variety of one-year circulating commemorative types and some Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) £2 coins for collectors. Between 1997 and 2015, the definitive type was the Technology type £2, which was then changed to the Britannia type £2.

The one-year type coins celebrate important anniversaries or people, as well as iconic aspects of British culture and history.

This circulating commemorative £2 coin marks the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.

The plot to assassinate King James I at the opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605 is a piece of British history that shall "never be forgot". 400 years later, in 2005, The Royal Mint remembered the Fifth of November with a £2 coin. The design features an arrangement of crosiers, maces and swords surrounded by stars, the dates 1605 and 2005, and features the denomination Two Pounds below.

In the words of the artist Peter Forster, its intricate reverse design shows symbols of State that allude to the survival of the British establishment under threat. The circular arrangement in which they are shown is suggestive of a Catherine Wheel and the surrounding stars are a further reference to fireworks. The dates are rendered in an early seventeenth-century style font.

£2 coins issued in 2005 have now been in circulation for 20 years.