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2 Pounds - Elizabeth II 4th portrait, Isambard K. Brunel
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2006 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 12 g |
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| Reverse description | The copper-nickel centre of the reverse features a three-quarter facing portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, depicted wearing his characteristic tall stovepipe hat and holding a cigar to his lips, with flowing hair framing his face. Behind the portrait, a stylised representation of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and a large locomotive driving wheel are visible, evoking the breadth of Brunel's engineering achievements. The designer's initials appear discreetly in the lower left field of the inner disc. The nickel-brass outer ring is decorated with a bold chain-link motif, a direct reference to the massive anchor chains of Brunel's SS Great Britain, with the denomination TWO POUNDS inscribed at the top of the ring and the date 2006 at the base. |
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| Reverse lettering | TWO POUNDS · 2006 |
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| Additional information |
Issued as part of the Royal Mint's ongoing £2 commemorative program marking figures of the Industrial Revolution, this coin honors Brunel two years after he topped a BBC public poll as the second greatest Briton in history — narrowly behind Churchill. The timing was no accident; the poll had reignited popular interest in Victorian engineering figures.
Brunel died in 1859, aged 53, just days after the maiden voyage of the SS Great Eastern — the largest ship ever built at that point — which suffered an explosion on its first run. He had collapsed on deck upon hearing the news.