2 Pence - Elizabeth II Peregrine Falcon

The Isle of Man's wildlife series of the mid-1980s was produced in both base metal and sterling silver strikes, with the silver versions issued specifically for collectors rather than circulation. The Manx government had by this point established a reliable pattern of releasing parallel proof and specimen sets annually, a practice that kept the island's coin program commercially active through a period when many small jurisdictions were still finding their footing in the collector market.

The peregrine falcon had been recovering slowly across the British Isles following the catastrophic population collapse caused by organochlorine pesticides — DDT in particular — through the 1950s and 60s. Its appearance on this issue was not incidental.