2005 UK Coin £2 Gold Proof Gunpowder Plot

This 2005 400th Anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot £2 gold proof coin was issued by The Royal Mint. This stunning coin comes in a presentation box with the certificate of authenticity.

• Struck to a proof finish in 22 carat gold, 0.916 fineness
• Capital Gains Tax exempt
• British legal tender
• Limited mintage of 914
• VAT free Investment Gold

In 2005, two different commemorative two pound coins were issued by The Royal Mint. This one to mark the the 400th Anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. and another one to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

The planned assassination of King James I was the work of a group of conspirators led by Robert Catesby and including Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright, Guy (or Guido) Fawkes and Robert Keyes. The traitors had intended to kill the King by blowing up Parliament during the opening ceremony, however, suspicions were aroused and the plot was discovered when Guy Fawkes was found in the cellars of the House of Lords with the gunpowder.

All the conspirators were then either killed before they stood trial or hung drawn and quartered. Four hundred years later. the Plot is still marked. Each year on the 5th November, also known as Bonfire Night, the skies around the British Isles are a riot of sparkling, jewel colours and the air is thick with smoke from the thousands of bonfires, many of which are still topped with effigies of Guy Fawkes.

The edge inscription bears the famous words - REMEMBER REMEMBER FIFTH OF NOVEMBER.

These coins were also issued as circulation coins and as collectable coins in Brilliant Uncirculated, silver proof and silver proof piedfort finishes.

Struck in 22 carat gold, the coin features a red gold outer band around a yellow gold inner disc. The coin comes in a presentation case with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity. The issue limit was 1,500 of this design, however, only 914 coins of this design were actually issued as individual coins. 

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The obverse bears the fourth definitive UK coin portrait of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Ian Rank Broadley. His initials IRB are located below the Queen's portrait.

The coin features the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRA REG FID DEF

The reverse of this 2005 two pound coin was designed by Peter Forster. Symbols of state are represented in the design by the mace, crosier and sword, allude to the survival under threat of the British establishment. The circular arrangement in which they are shown is also suggestive of a Catherine Wheel, and the surrounding stars are a further reference to fireworks. The dates are rendered in an early seventeenth century style of font. The coins bears the inscription 1605 * 2005 TWO POUNDS.