Elizabeth II, £2 (Millennium) 2000 Silver Proof

The Pound coins toward the end of the series have always been difficult to find in Uncirculated condition. No one put them away as no one realized they were going to change the composition and design of the Pound. Not only did we have managed to obtain the difficult 2009 Pound, but the coins we have are also from the Mint Set and thus in Specimen BU condition. The Mint issues three grades of coins, Uncirculated that you get in your change with all the bag marks that entails. Specimen Briliant Uncirculated, were in bubble packs, Uncirculated but with beautiful Prooflike surfaces. Then there is Proof which requires the coin to have multiple strikes to get the almost perfect surface. These 2009 Pounds we are offering are in Specimen Brilliant Uncirculated condition.

This handsome Sterling Silver proof version of the Pound coin was issued in 1994 when the design was to honour Scotland. You have a rampant Lion on one side with the so-called Maklouf bust of the Queen on the other side. These are Special Collector’s Editions struck in Proof Sterling Silver by the Royal Mint. They had an original mintage limit of 25,000, but I don’t know how many they actually struck. Each Sterling Silver Proof comes in a protective capsule inside the original Royal Mint case of issue. The design is most attractive and it would be very difficult today to even get a normal circulation issue in Uncirculated let alone Silver Proof. Now some 26 years old and not an easy coin to find, a great gift if you know someone born or married in 1994 and with the new Pound Coin just released, interest and demand for these older issues is greater.

New reverse design for Wales with the Maklouf portrait of Queen Elizabeth on the obverse.