2 Pence - Victoria 2nd portrait, Maundy issues

Maundy money never circulated. Distributed annually by the monarch at the Royal Maundy ceremony — a tradition rooted in Christ's washing of the disciples' feet — these pieces were struck to a higher standard than currency coinage and typically passed directly into the hands of elderly recipients, one coin per year of the sovereign's age. Victoria's second portrait, the so-called "Jubilee head" by Joseph Boehm, replaced the earlier young head following the 1887 Golden Jubilee. Boehm died in 1890, mid-series, leaving the portrait in use without its creator.