2023 Two Pound – Flying Scotsman Gold Proof

Charles became King on the 8 September 2022 following the death of his Mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Born 14 November 1948. Charles was the oldest person to become Monarch, aged 73 years old when he became King. His Coronation was on 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey, and his wife became Queen Camilla.

Charles has been married twice. His first marriage was to Diana, Princess of Wales. They married in 1981 and divorced in 1996. They had two children: William, Prince of Wales and hier to the throne, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Charles' second marriage was to Queen Camilla in 2005.

Charles has a sister, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal; and two brothers: Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh.

On coins, King Charles decided to use the English spelling of his name where his predecessors of the same name used the Latin Carolus.
The first gold two pound (£2) coins appeared in 1820 for George III but they were only made occasionally (intended for circulation) until 1980 when the Royal Mint started minting them yearly. There are both proof and uncirculated types in previous years but the modern trend seems to be a proof as part of a set. 

Gold £2 Coins are also know as Double Sovereigns, but as with gold five pound coins there are two variations. One is the double sovereign itself - it looks like a larger version of the sovereign of the same year and is likely to have George and the Dragon on the back. The other type is a commemorative style which tends to copy the circulation two pound design. To avoid categorisation some dealers refer to both types collectively as two pound pieces.

For size comparison, the image on the right shows a modern sovereign set containing the half-sovereign, sovereign, double sovereign and £5 coin.

The specification for two pound coins

Weight is 15.98g, which is twice the weight of a standard gold sovereign. The diameter is 28.4mm and about 2mm thick. It is made from 22 Carat gold (0.916 or 91.6% gold).The Royal Mint is the designated place for the UK to mint coins. It dates back well over 1000 years and is a Government-owned company. 

Formed in the reign of Alfred the Great about the year 886, during the period 1279-1812 it was generally referred to as The Tower Mint as it was housed at the Tower of London. The Master of The Royal Mint has included famous figures such as Sir Isaac Newton.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK although it also produces medals and coins for other countries. It is currently located at Llantrisant, Wales.
The United Kingdom (UK) is the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is often refered to as Great Britain (GBR). It has a long, rich history.

The orignal coinage was Pounds, Shillings and Pence but since decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it is £1 = 100p, that is One Pound = 100 pence. The coinage of the UK is also a long history, the Royal Mint being established as long ago as 886AD when coins were hammered. Today there is perhaps 30 billion coins in circulation, and many (numismatic) collectors coins and sets are issued frequently in gold, silver and other metals.