2 Pounds - Elizabeth II Gunpowder Plot, Gold Proof

Issued to mark the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, this piece commemorates the failed November 1605 conspiracy in which Robert Catesby led a group of Catholic dissidents — Guy Fawkes among them — in an attempt to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. The plot's discovery triggered decades of institutionalized anti-Catholic legislation and gave England one of its most durable annual rituals.

The gold proof was struck in 22-carat gold at a mintage of 2,500 pieces.