2 Dollar - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait, Pattern

New Zealand's switch to a dollar-based decimal system had been in place since 1967, but the $2 coin denomination proved persistently awkward — the note it was meant to replace never fully disappeared from circulation. This 1985 aluminium bronze pattern was part of the Reserve Bank's internal evaluation process ahead of a planned coinage overhaul that ultimately produced the 1990 series redesign. The piece was never released for circulation and exists in very limited numbers, struck for official trials rather than public issue.