2p Coin Values UK: The 1983 "New Pence" Error & Rarer 2p Coins

The humble copper 2p has one famous Royal Mint error worth several hundred pounds, several pre-decimal relatives ranging from the giant 1797 "cartwheel" twopence to Royal Maundy silver, and a quietly interesting modern series that switched from solid bronze to copper-plated steel in 1992. This guide is the full 2p story: identification, values, authentication and where to sell.

Last updated: 6 June 2026

In brief. The most valuable modern UK 2p is the 1983 "New Pence" mule, realising £300–£700 at auction. The 1797 Boulton "cartwheel" twopence is common but desirable in high grade (£150–£500). All other circulating 2ps are worth face value unless they are in brilliant uncirculated grade or carry a verified mint error. 2ps struck before September 1992 are solid bronze and non-magnetic; from late 1992 onwards they are copper-plated steel and magnetic.

The 1983 "New Pence" 2p mule

All UK decimal coins carried the inscription "NEW PENCE" from decimalisation in 1971 until 1981. From 1982 onwards the Royal Mint replaced the legend with the denomination name, "TWO PENCE", to reflect that the "new" decimal system was now the only system. By design every 1983 2p should read "TWO PENCE".

A small batch of 1983 2ps housed in Royal Mint Uncirculated Year Set folders escaped the Mint with the obsolete "NEW PENCE" reverse die. The cause was a die-pairing error in the proof-finishing line: a 1982 reverse working die was held over and married to a 1983 obverse during set production. The error was not noticed publicly until the late 1980s, by which time most of the affected sets had been broken open and the coins spent or stored.

Auction realisations vary sharply by condition and provenance. Loose circulated examples sit at the lower end of the range; cased examples in original Royal Mint Year Set folders, untouched, can reach the upper bound. The coin remains the headline modern UK 2p rarity.

Condition / provenance	Description	Realised range
Loose, circulated	Found in change, mid-grade VF/EF, environmental toning	£300 – £500
Loose, BU	Likely removed from Mint set; full lustre, light handling	£500 – £800
Original Royal Mint set	Cased 1983 Uncirculated Year Set, sealed	£700 – £1,200
Slabbed (CGS / NGC / PCGS)	Authenticated and graded MS65 or higher	£800 – £1,500

Authentication: spotting altered "New Pence" 2ps

The price differential between an ordinary 1983 2p and a genuine New Pence mule has produced a cottage industry of altered fakes on online marketplaces. The two common alteration methods are chemical and mechanical, and both leave detectable traces.

Chemical removal of "TWO". The forger applies an acidic gel (often diluted ferric chloride) to the area below the shield, etching away the relief letters. Tells: the background field around "PENCE" has a slightly matt, micro-pitted texture under 10x magnification; the surrounding lustre is uneven; remaining letters in "PENCE" sometimes show edge softening because the etchant was not perfectly localised.
Mechanical engraving. Crude attempts re-engrave "NEW" over a polished area where "TWO" used to be. Tells: letter shapes do not match the 1971–1981 New Pence master die; serif and stroke widths are inconsistent; tool marks are visible at any magnification above 5x.
Wrong-die typeface. Genuine New Pence 2ps from 1971–1981 use a specific font with characteristic letter spacing. Compare a candidate 1983 against a confirmed 1981 2p side by side. Letter heights, the gap between "NEW" and "PENCE", and the position of the legend relative to the date are all reference points.
Weight and edge. Genuine 1983 bronze 2ps weigh 7.12 g ± 0.05 g and have a plain (non-reeded) edge. Coins outside this weight band are either fakes, post-1992 steel cores or filed/reduced examples.
Provenance. Loose 1983 New Pence 2ps without provenance are an instant yellow flag. Original 1983 Royal Mint Year Set folders, even if opened, provide some provenance and are worth keeping intact.

If in doubt — slab it. Submit any candidate 1983 New Pence 2p to CGS UK (the British grading standard, lower fees), NGC or PCGS. Authentication and encapsulation costs £15–£30 and typically pays for itself many times over in resale confidence.

The 1797 "cartwheel" twopence

Before the modern 2p there was the giant Boulton cartwheel. Struck at Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham under contract from the Royal Mint, the 1797 twopence was the largest copper coin ever issued for British circulation: 41 mm in diameter, 56.7 g in weight (about the same as four modern £1 coins) and made from solid copper of refined fineness.

The size was deliberate. By 1797 forgery of small copper coinage was so widespread that the Government accepted Boulton's argument that a twopence containing two pennyworth of copper by weight could not be profitably faked. The press technology required to strike a coin that large only existed at Soho, where Boulton had pioneered steam-powered minting. The deep, sharp rims and incuse legend ("GEORGIVS III · D : G · REX") around the edge gave rise to the nickname "cartwheel".

Grade	Description	Typical value
Fair / Poor	Heavily worn, design barely visible	£5 – £15
Fine (F)	Major detail clear, rim worn	£15 – £40
Very Fine (VF)	Clear hair detail, sharp legend	£40 – £120
Extremely Fine (EF)	Light wear on highest points only	£150 – £300
About Uncirculated / BU	Full lustre, no wear, problem-free	£300 – £800+

Sources: realised hammer prices from Baldwin's, Spink, and recent UK auction archives.

Victorian twopences and Maundy silver

Victoria never issued a circulating bronze twopence for the United Kingdom. The "Victorian twopence" you may hear referenced is one of two things: a colonial twopence (struck for British Honduras, the British West Indies and similar dependencies, generally worth £5–£30 in mid grade) or a Maundy silver twopence.

Royal Maundy money is a special silver issue presented annually by the monarch at the Royal Maundy Service. Maundy twopences are tiny (13.5 mm, 0.94 g) and have been struck almost continuously since 1660. Pre-1947 Maundy 2ps are .925 sterling silver; 1947–1970 coins are .500 silver; from 1971 onwards Maundy returned to .925 sterling. The annual mintage is very low (typically around 1,500–2,000 coins) but most are retained by recipients and their families, which keeps prices accessible.

Series	Years	Composition	Typical 2d value
Charles II Maundy	1660–1685	.925 silver, hammered & milled	£30 – £200
George III Maundy	1760–1820	.925 silver	£15 – £60
Victoria Maundy	1838–1901	.925 silver, four head types	£15 – £50
George V / VI Maundy	1911–1952	.925 then .500 silver	£10 – £35
Elizabeth II Maundy	1953–2022	.925 silver	£15 – £60
Charles III Maundy	2023–	.925 silver	£30 – £120

The modern decimal 2p (1971–present)

The decimal twopence entered circulation on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, replacing the old penny and twopence in the new sterling system. The original reverse, designed by Christopher Ironside, depicted the Plume of the Prince of Wales encircled by a coronet, and ran from 1971 until 2008. The 2008 Matthew Dent Royal Shield reverse, where the 2p forms the bottom-right segment of a quartered Royal Coat of Arms across the 1p–50p set, took over until the introduction of new Charles III designs from 2024.

The coin was originally struck in solid bronze (97% Cu / 2.5% Zn / 0.5% Sn) at 7.12 g and 25.9 mm. In September 1992 the alloy switched to copper-plated steel, lowering production cost by approximately a third. The diameter and weight were held constant so vending machines did not require recalibration, but the new steel-cored coin is magnetic. A neodymium magnet is the cleanest test of date: pre-1992 sticks to a fingertip but not a magnet; post-1992 jumps to the magnet.

Both 7.12 g bronze and 7.12 g steel 2ps were struck in 1992, and a small number of "wrong metal" transitional pieces are believed to exist. None has yet been authenticated by a major grading service to the level required to support a recognised auction premium, so any "rare 1992 bronze 2p" listing should be treated with scepticism until properly attributed.

Modern 2p errors and how they trade

Error type	Description	Typical realised range
1983 New Pence mule	"NEW PENCE" legend on 1983-dated 2p	£300 – £1,200
Off-centre strike	Design shifted 5–30% off centre, blank crescent visible	£15 – £80
Double strike	Coin struck twice with rotation between strikes	£30 – £150
Wrong-planchet (1p blank)	2p design on a smaller 1p bronze blank	£100 – £400
Wrong-planchet (10p blank)	2p design on cupro-nickel 10p blank, "silver" appearance	£500 – £1,500
Brockage / capped die	One side mirror-image of the other; rare	£80 – £300
Lamination / clipped planchet	Metal flaw or partial blank	£5 – £30

For more on identifying genuine mint errors versus post-mint damage, see our UK coin errors list guide.

Grading thresholds for 2p coins

Bronze and copper-plated steel coins lose lustre quickly because copper is reactive. The practical grading thresholds for 2ps:

Brilliant Uncirculated (BU / MS63–65). Full original mint lustre across both faces, no contact marks visible to the naked eye, no environmental toning. Almost all BU 2ps come from sealed Royal Mint Year Sets or unopened Mint bags.
About Uncirculated (AU / MS58–62). Trace lustre breaks on the highest points (Queen's cheek, shield rim) but full design detail. Common in unopened Mint bags after a few years of storage.
Extremely Fine (EF / AU50–55). All hair detail clear, light wear on high points, lustre mostly gone, may show even chocolate-brown toning. Often traded coin for the cartwheel and Victorian Maundy.
Very Fine and below. Worth face value for modern 2ps. Pre-decimal twopences retain meaningful collector value down to Fine grade.

See our how to grade a coin guide for the full Sheldon scale and UK CGS scale comparison.

Where to sell a rare 2p

The right venue depends on the coin:

1983 New Pence mule, slabbed errors and high-grade pre-decimal: consign to a specialist British numismatic auction. Baldwin's, Spink and Noonans all run regular sales. Hammer commission is typically 15–20% but realisations on attributed errors consistently beat private offers.
Loose 1983 mules and unverified errors: eBay UK is the largest market. Use the "auction" format with a sensible reserve, photograph both sides under daylight, and disclose any provenance. Selling fees are 13% plus listing fees; buyer disputes are common, so a slab adds a layer of protection.
Cartwheel twopences and Maundy silver: sell to a numismatic dealer or via a specialist British auction. The CGS marketplace and forum classifieds also work well for graded coins.
Common BU date-runs: bundle by year and sell as a set. Royal Mint Year Set folders sell well intact and command a small premium over loose 2ps from the same year.

Our full venue-by-venue commission breakdown is in where to sell rare coins UK.

Featured 2p coins on MyCoinage

2 Pence - Elizabeth II 5th portrait; Royal Shield

2015

up to £88

2 Pence - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait; magnetic

1992

up to £19

2 Pence - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait; set Issue

1982

up to £6

2 Pence - Charles III Red Squirrel

2023

up to £5

2 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait; magnetic

1998

up to £4

2 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait; Royal Shield

2008

up to £1

2 Pence - PRW Phonographic Ruffler and Walker

2 Pence - F.N. Bliss Farm Terrington, St. Clement; pickers token

Browse every UK 2p in our database →

Frequently asked questions

What is the 1983 "New Pence" 2p worth?

When Britain decimalised in 1971, all small bronze coins carried the inscription "NEW PENCE". The Royal Mint replaced this with the denomination name from 1982 onwards, so a 1983 issue should read "TWO PENCE". A small batch of 1983 2ps in Royal Mint proof-style year sets was struck with the obsolete "NEW PENCE" reverse die, creating one of the most famous modern UK error coins. Genuine examples realise £300–£700 at auction, and uncirculated cased examples have crossed £1,000 at Spink and Noonans.

How do I identify a genuine 1983 New Pence 2p?

Flip the coin to the reverse and read the legend below the Royal Shield (or pre-2008 plumed badge). It must say "NEW PENCE" rather than "TWO PENCE", and the date 1983 must appear on the obverse beneath the Queen's portrait. Genuine examples were originally housed in 1983 Royal Mint Year Set folders, weigh 7.12 g (bronze) and measure 25.9 mm. Loose, circulated 1983 "NEW PENCE" 2ps deserve careful authentication because the legend can be altered chemically; see the authentication section below.

How many 1983 New Pence 2p coins exist?

The Royal Mint has never published a precise figure. Estimates from the trade put the surviving population in the low hundreds rather than thousands, with most still housed in original 1983 Uncirculated Year Set folders. Loose examples are scarce because owners did not know they were rare for many years and routinely spent them. Auction frequency suggests roughly 30–60 distinct examples appear at British auctions per decade.

Are pre-decimal twopences worth anything?

Yes, but the values vary widely. The 1797 Boulton Soho Mint "cartwheel" twopence is common in worn condition (£10–£30) but fetches £150–£500 in near-mint state. Victorian bronze twopences were never struck for circulation in Britain (the denomination was issued for the colonies), so any "Victorian twopence" you find in a UK shop is almost certainly a Maundy silver coin. Maundy twopences range from £10 worn to £60+ for high-grade modern examples.

What is a Maundy twopence?

A small silver coin (.925 sterling pre-1947, then .500 silver, now .925 again from 1947) given out at the annual Royal Maundy Service. The monarch presents recipients with specially struck Maundy money in denominations of 1d, 2d, 3d and 4d. Maundy 2ps are tiny (13.5 mm, 0.94 g) and have been issued every year since 1660. Common George V and Elizabeth II Maundy twopences sell for £10–£25; rare dates and original sealed Maundy sets command considerably more.

When did the 2p become magnetic?

The Royal Mint switched the 2p from solid bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin) to copper-plated steel in September 1992. Steel-cored 2ps stick to a magnet; pre-1992 bronze 2ps do not. Some 1992 coins exist in both alloys, but no transitional mule with a 1992 date and the wrong metal currently commands a recognised premium. The change saved roughly £3 million per year in metal costs but caused well-documented vending machine and coin-dating issues for collectors.

What modern 2p errors are valuable?

Beyond the 1983 New Pence mule, genuine 2p errors include off-centre strikes (typically £15–£80), double strikes (£30–£150), wrong-planchet strikes (a 2p design on a 1p blank, £100–£400), and the rare "silver" 2p where a bronze coin was accidentally struck on a 10p cupro-nickel blank (£500+). Be cautious: most "rare 2p" listings on eBay are post-mint damage or environmental discoloration, not Royal Mint errors.

Should I clean an old 2p?

No. Cleaning destroys numismatic value. Bronze patina and copper toning are part of a coin's grade. Abrasive cleaning, ketchup, vinegar or chemical brighteners leave microscopic hairlines that grading services such as CGS UK, PCGS and NGC detect instantly. A cleaned 1983 New Pence 2p might lose 60–80% of its value compared to an untouched example.

Where should I sell a rare 2p?

For genuine rarities such as the 1983 New Pence mule or significant errors, consign to a specialist British numismatic auction (Baldwin's, Spink or Noonans). For modern circulating coins in BU grade, eBay UK remains the largest market but factor in 13% selling fees and authentication risk. Specialist Facebook groups and the CGS marketplace also work well. See our where to sell rare coins UK guide for full venue commission tables.

What grade do I need for a 2p to be worth more than face value?

For ordinary date 2ps (1971–present) the threshold is broadly brilliant uncirculated (BU) or proof: full lustre, no contact marks, no toning. Anything circulated, even in Extremely Fine grade, is worth face value unless it is a recognised error or rare date. Pre-decimal twopences (1797 cartwheel, Maundy silver) carry collector value at much lower grades because survival rates are low. As a rule of thumb: post-1971 coin in worn condition equals 2p; post-1971 in BU grade equals £1–£5; rare date or error equals £50+.

Are gold or silver-plated 2ps real?

Almost never as Royal Mint issues. Gold-plated 2p coins sold as "limited edition" novelties on social media are ordinary circulation 2ps that have been electroplated by third-party sellers after leaving the Mint. They have no numismatic value and grading services treat them as damaged. The Royal Mint has issued silver and gold proof 2ps in commemorative sets (notably the 2008 Royal Shield silver proof and the 2017 50th Anniversary of the £ sterling sets); these are the only collectable precious-metal 2ps and arrive in original Mint packaging with a Certificate of Authenticity.

What is a "Charles II tin farthing" and is it related to the 2p?

No, but the question comes up because Charles II experimented with a tin twopence as well. The Charles II tin coinage (1684–1692) included tin farthings, halfpennies and a small number of pattern twopences with copper plugs in the centre to deter forgery. These are entirely separate from the modern bronze 2p series, sit in pre-decimal Spink references, and trade at £100–£1,500 depending on type and grade. Mention is included here only because new collectors sometimes confuse the historic "twopence" denomination with the decimal 2p.