1981 2p Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1981 2p rare?

No. 353.2 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 1981 2p coins were made?

353,191,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1981 2p made of?

Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin). It weighs 7.12 g and measures 25.9 mm.

Is the 1981 2p still legal tender?

Yes. The 2p is legal tender, though 1p and 2p coins together only have to be accepted for payments up to 20p.

How to recognize it

The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.

The 1981 2p is round, 25.9 mm across and bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin).

1981 2p by the numbers

Measured by how many were made, the 1981 2p ranks 35th lowest of 45 2p dates and varieties from 1971 to 2021. The next scarcer is the 1996 2p (296.3 million); the next more common is the 1999 2p (353.8 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1971 2p with 1.45 billion, about 4.1 times as many. The scarcest is the 2008 Old Reverse 2p with 10.6 million, 33 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1981 output was 1.2 times fewer than 1980 and 3.3 times the 1985 figure.

Over the 1980s the Mint produced 2.04 billion 2p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1981 2p accounts for 17% of that.

What to check on your 1981 2p

• Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
• Try a magnet: bronze 2p coins do not stick to it. A coin that sticks is copper-plated steel from 1992 or later, so read the date again.
• Look at the surfaces under a light. Coins from sets have unbroken luster and color; change-worn coins are dull and scuffed.
• Never clean it. Rubbing or dipping strips the original color and leaves fine scratches.

Bronze NEW PENCE 2p with the Machin portrait (1971 to 1981)

The 2p was one of three bronze coins released on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, alongside the half penny and the penny. It was the largest and most valuable of the three, worth 4.8 old pence. Its reverse reads NEW PENCE, the plural chosen because the coin was worth two of the new pennies, with a large numeral 2 below the design. The word NEW was there to stop people confusing decimal money with the pennies and pence they had used all their lives.

Christopher Ironside's reverse shows the badge of the Prince of Wales: three ostrich feathers rising through a coronet, with the motto ICH DIEN on a ribbon. The motto is German for "I serve". Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara is on the obverse with ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the date. The coin is bronze, an alloy of 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc and 0.5 percent tin. It measures 25.9 mm across, weighs 7.12 g and has a plain edge. That weight is exactly twice the penny's.

The huge 1971 run of 1,454,856,250 coins meant the Royal Mint struck no 2p pieces for circulation dated 1972, 1973 or 1974. Those three dates come only from sets. Circulation production returned in 1975 and stayed in the hundreds of millions most years up to 1981. Worn coins from this period are face value. What collectors look for are the sets-only dates and coins with bright original color and sharp feather detail. A magnet should have no effect on any of them.

Mintage chart

Specifications