2 Pounds - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Technology (1998–2015)

One row for each year the 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II 4th portrait – Technology 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; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. 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 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Technology

The 1998 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Technology is a circulating 2 pounds coin issued from 1998 to 2015 in the Technology £2 (Definitive) series, struck in bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring. It weighs 12g and measures 28.4mm across. Reverse design: Four concentric circles representing the Iron Age, Industrial Revolution, silicon chip and the internet, denomination above, date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 18 years between 1998 and 2015, 402,411,213 coins in all. 2005 is the scarcest date, with 3,837,250 struck.

Common questions

History and design

A 1994 review of the coinage recommended that a £2 coin should enter general circulation. The Royal Mint planned to issue a new bimetallic coin in November 1997 and struck it that year with Raphael Maklouf's portrait of the Queen, but its release was delayed until 1998. By then a new portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley had been adopted, so the 1997 coins and everything from 1998 onwards show different heads.

This entry covers the Rank-Broadley version, dated 1998 to 2015. It was the standard reverse on the £2 for 18 years, alongside the commemorative designs issued in most of them. The Royal Mint's figures give 402,411,213 struck for circulation in that time. The largest year was 1998 with 91,110,375, and the smallest were 2005 with 3,837,250 and 2012 with 3,900,000. The Royal Mint's data lists a different definitive, Britannia, from 2015.

The reverse is by Bruce Rushin, an art teacher from Norfolk, whose entry won a public competition. It is built from concentric circles that the Royal Mint describes as telling the story of technological development from the Iron Age to the Industrial Revolution, and from the Computer Age to the internet. TWO POUNDS appears above and the date below.

The edge carries the words STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS, taken from a letter written in 1676 by Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke. The obverse has the fourth portrait of Elizabeth II, by Ian Rank-Broadley, with the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRA REG FID DEF. The coin has a nickel-brass outer ring and a cupro-nickel centre.

Varieties and errors

No recognised die varieties are documented for the 1998 to 2015 coins. The well known "necklace" £2 is the 1997 coin with the Maklouf portrait, catalogued separately as the 1997 Technology £2.

Bimetallic coins can be struck with the centre out of position, so that the inner core spills into the outer ring. Change Checker notes that mis-strikes of this kind are thought to be fairly common on some Technology £2 coins. They are striking faults on individual coins, not a separate variety.

Collecting notes

With more than 400 million struck, this is by far the most plentiful £2 design, and all dates remain legal tender. The dates worth setting aside in good condition are the low years in the table, chiefly 2005 and 2012, along with 2010 (6,890,000) and 2009 (8,775,000).

When checking a coin, look for a centred core, a complete and readable edge inscription and clean surfaces on both sides. The 1998 design was also struck as a silver proof and a silver piedfort for collectors. Those share the design but were not issued for circulation.