2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 Coin
The 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 is a circulating £2 with 5.14 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2005
- Circulation mintage
- 5,140,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Peter Forster
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 worth?
5.14 million were made, so the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error such as a misaligned or wrong edge, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 rare?
- No. 5.14 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 coins were made?
- 5,140,500 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2?
- The design is credited to Peter Forster.
- What is the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 was made
Around midnight on 4 to 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested in a cellar beneath the House of Lords, guarding barrels of gunpowder. He was one of a group of Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby who planned to blow up Parliament at its State Opening, killing King James I. The plot was uncovered after an anonymous letter warned a Catholic peer to stay away from the opening. Fawkes and the surviving plotters were tried and executed early the following year.
Londoners lit bonfires to celebrate the King's escape. An act of Parliament soon made 5 November a day of thanksgiving. Bonfire Night has carried on ever since, with fireworks, bonfires and the burning of a guy in back gardens and public displays across Britain. For the four hundredth anniversary in 2005 the Royal Mint issued a £2 coin, one of two £2 designs that year alongside the VE Day coin. It was struck in large numbers and reached change quickly, so many people first noticed it in their change around Bonfire Night.
How to recognize it
Peter Forster's design is an arrangement of croziers, maces and swords, surrounded by stars, with the dates 1605 and 2005 and the denomination TWO POUNDS below. It's a busy, symmetrical pattern rather than a picture of the plotters, so the crossed staffs and blades are the details to look for. Read the edge to confirm it: REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, the opening of the traditional rhyme still recited on Bonfire Night. The obverse carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen. The coin has the usual two-color construction. Unlike the VE Day coin of the same year, it shows no building, so the two are easy to separate.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 ranks 30th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 (5 million); the next more common is the 1996 Euro 96 £2 (5.14 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 2 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 13 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2005 alongside 1 other circulating £2 design: the End of World War II (VE Day 60) (10.2 million). The 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 was the scarcest of the year.
What to check on your 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2
- Read the edge. It should say REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER. A wrong or missing edge inscription is the quickest sign of a counterfeit.
- Check the two metals: a silver-colored center and a gold-colored ring, with the ring tight and level all the way around.
- Weigh it: a genuine two-metal £2 weighs 12.0 g. Fakes are often a little light and softer in detail.
- Compare the portrait and lettering with a known genuine coin. Blurry letters, a flat portrait or uneven spacing point to a copy.
A circulation mintage of 5,140,500 makes this a common coin and a face value find in change. Uncirculated coins earn a small premium. The design's many crossing lines make wear easy to judge: on a good coin each sword and mace stands out clearly. Look closely at the edge too. Fake £2 coins sometimes carry blurred or wrongly worded edge text. This edge rhyme is long enough that mistakes stand out. A genuine coin also shows a neat join between ring and center.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2005 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,140,500 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER |
| Designer | Peter Forster |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2005 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 Coin | 10,191,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
What is written on the edge of the Gunpowder Plot £2?
REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, the first line of the old Bonfire Night rhyme. The coin marked four hundred years since the plot of 1605, which is why the dates 1605 and 2005 appear on the reverse.
How many Gunpowder Plot £2 coins were minted?
The Royal Mint struck 5,140,500 for circulation in 2005. That is a high figure, so the coin is common and still turns up in change. Only sharp uncirculated examples attract a small premium from collectors.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.