2 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait non-magnetic (1998–1999)

One row for each year the 2 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait – non-magnetic was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1998 2 Pence - Elizabeth II – non-magnetic

The 1998 2 Pence - Elizabeth II – non-magnetic is a circulating 2 pence coin issued from 1998 to 1999, struck in bronze. It weighs 7.12g and measures 25.9mm across. Reverse design: The badge of the Prince of Wales, a plume of three ostrich feathers enfiling a coronet of cross pattée and fleur-de-lis, dividing motto with legend above and denomination below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 2 years between 1998 and 1999, 98,812,696 coins in all. 1999 is the scarcest date, with 136,696 struck.

Common questions

History and design

The 2p stopped being a bronze coin in September 1992, when the Royal Mint moved it to copper-plated steel because of rising metal prices. Six years later bronze came back for a single date. The Mint's own account is brief: in 1998, 2p coins were struck in both copper-plated steel and bronze. Its specification page records the same exception, saying the coin has been plated steel since September 1992 except in 1998, when it was made in both alloys.

The Mint adds that having the flexibility to produce in either material helps it meet demand promptly and cost effectively, and that it may do so again. Tony Clayton's reference, drawing on information from the Mint, says the metal reverted to bronze for a few months for operational reasons.

The Royal Mint's mintage figures list the two versions separately. There were 98,676,000 bronze coins and 115,154,000 in copper-plated steel, so the bronze coin is the less numerous of the two, though not by much. Both were released for general circulation.

Nothing on the faces separates the bronze coin from the steel one. The reverse is Christopher Ironside's Badge of the Prince of Wales, plumes in a coronet with the motto ICH DIEN (I serve), with TWO PENCE above and the figure 2 below. The obverse is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen, new on the coinage in 1998, with the initials IRB below the bust and the legend ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the date.

The metal is bronze: 97% copper, 2.5% zinc and 0.5% tin. The edge is plain and the coin weighs 7.12g. Because bronze is denser than steel it is thinner than the plated coin, 1.85mm against 2.03mm.

Collecting notes

A 1998 2p that ignores a magnet is this coin. It is not an error: it is a normal circulation issue made in tens of millions, and it remains legal tender for amounts up to 20 pence. The magnetic coin of the same date is the copper-plated steel 2p of 1998 to 2008.

Clayton notes that the 2p coins in the 1998 proof and uncirculated sets are plated steel, so a bronze 1998 coin was made for circulation. He also records that the 2p in the 1999 proof set was bronze, and possibly the one in the uncirculated set. A non-magnetic 1999 2p should therefore have come from a set.

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.