2 Pounds - Elizabeth II Red-footed booby, Titanium

Pobjoy Mint has produced titanium coinage for the British Indian Ocean Territory since the late 1990s, developing proprietary coloring techniques that introduce hues through controlled oxidation rather than applied inks or plating. The red finish here is achieved by heating the titanium to a precise temperature range — the color is literally in the metal's surface oxide layer, not on it.

The Red-footed Booby nests on Diego Garcia, the largest atoll in the Chagos Archipelago, whose human population was entirely displaced by the British government between 1967 and 1973 to make way for a U.S. military base.