Charles Dickens 2 Pound Coin
According to changechecker, the 2012 two pound coin commemorating that great Victorian wordsmith Charles Dickens was the second most sought after £2 coin in 2013. As a giant of 19th century British literature readers will have Great Expectations of todays blog post.
In 2012 a £2 coin was issued to commemorate the birthday of English writer, Charles Dickens. The special coin features a detailed profile made up of the names of the author’s books. Charles Dickens £2 coin. Florence Nightingale. Technology £2 coin. What do you do if you’ve got a rare coin? Firstly, you need to make sure the coin is legit and not counterfeit.Around one in every four old £2 coins were thought to be fake, according to the Royal Mint, so there are probably more fakers in.
The coin is the same venerable 12.0 gram bimetallic disc familiar to so many in Britain and beyond, with the standard IRB portrait of Queen Elizabeth II adorning the inner cupro-nickel disc of the obverse face. The now standard text consumes the outer nickel-brass disc, with beading noticeably present on both.
The edge features the text SOMETHING WILL TURN UP, spoken by Wilkins Micawber in the Dickens novel David Copperfield, this being a reflection of the stiff upper lips, hopeful expectations and eternal optimism that pervades the British Isles. Micawberish and Micawberesque have both crept into the English language, meaning something along the lines of being in poverty with hope of better fortune.
Turning now to the reverse face we see the text 1812 CHARLES DICKENS 1870 and what might seem at first to be a random jumble of words. Closer inspection reveals the names of many of Dickens much loved works arranged in such a way as to create a profile of the great man, landmark beard and all. The small MD at 3 o’clock tells us that Matthew Dent is the designer of this masterpiece of the mint, such a shame only 8.2 million were produced.
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Three different £2 coins were issued in 2012. Two commemorative coins; one to mark the Olympic handover ceremony from London 2012 to Rio in 2016 and another to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. The standard coin with the ages of man reverse was also issued.
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 26: (info on coin type numbers here)
Obverse Type 2d (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Jonathan Olliffe):
Edge: I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD.
Mintage for Circulation: 845,000 (initially reported to be a lot lower).
Collectability/Scarcity: 3 (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 both the denomination ‘TWO POUNDS’ and the date, so these has been incorporated into the obverse and are shown at the bottom.
The reverse by Jonathan Olliffe shows a baton being handed over with the Union flag, the flag of Brazil and a running track below and the London 2012 logo above. The very successful London 2012 Olympics finished with the ceremony to mark the handover to Rio de Janeiro for 2016. The performers at the ceremony had this to say:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 27: (info on coin type numbers here)
Obverse Type 2d (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Matthew Dent):
Edge: SOMETHING WILL TURN UP.
Mintage for Circulation: 8,190,000.
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 both the denomination ‘TWO POUNDS’ and the date, so these has been incorporated into the obverse and are shown at the bottom.
The reverse is by Matthew Dent and shows the profile of Charles Dickens, made up of the titles of his works. Charles John Huffam Dickens is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. In his epic novels he created fictional characters that are known the world over and remain hugely popular to this day:
The Standard Coin for 2012:
Obverse Type (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):
Reverse Type (design by Bruce Rushin):
Edge: STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS.
Mintage for Circulation: 3,900,000.
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.
Charles Dickens 2 Pound Coin
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
Charles Dickens Books In Order
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