Demand for £2 coins during COVID-19

[Deeman]

Apparently there is, at least for the 2 pound denomination, otherwise no new coins would be released into circulation.

I think the word 'new' should be replaced by 'stock' as no £2 coins dated later than 2016 have been released into circulation.

[Pabitra]

In theory you should only ever get one £1 in change, to account for an odd number of pounds.  It's rarely the case in reality though.

In general, 2 Pounds coin is not very popular. I believe that it's size and weight are the reason.
I believe, it is high time that it undergoes a design change and made more convenient to handle.

[FosseWay]

Do you have evidence for that?

My experience is that people complain when they get handfuls of £1 coins because of a lack of £2s (and of £5 notes, come to that). A £2 coin is lighter than two £1s, even after the latter's resizing.

[Deeman]

In general, 2 Pounds coin is not very popular. I believe that it's size and weight are the reason.
I believe, it is high time that it undergoes a design change and made more convenient to handle.

That idea would compromise the detail that could be incorporated in the commemorative design.

[Alan71]

In general, 2 Pounds coin is not very popular. I believe that it's size and weight are the reason.
I believe, it is high time that it undergoes a design change and made more convenient to handle.

I don't think that's true at all.  At 12g, it's only 3.75g heavier than the current £1.  As for its size, you'd expect a coin of such high value to be large.  The 10p and 2p have no weight advantage over the respective 5p and 1p, so should be far more unpopular based on that reasoning.

As FosseWay mentions, many a time you can be handed nine £1 coins in change.  A shortage of £5 notes I can forgive, but £2 coins as well?  You get an apology for it but I'm much too polite to make an issue, so I feebly smile and say "that's OK" when inside I'm seething and want to throw the coins back in their face.

[kena]

A few times I have said please don't give back a bunch of £1 coins when I can see that they have £2 coins in the till and more times than not, they comply with my request.

But it does seem that often, they overload the tills with the £1 coins after the elimination of the round pound coin.

[SandyGuyUK]

Back in those halcyon pre-CV19 days when you actually used to be able to go out to shops/pubs etc. and spend cash (rather than contact-less only payments), I used to receive £2 coins infrequently enough that I would then save them in a receptacle at home (my "Dad" mug!) and then when I had enough to make up £20, bag them up and cash them in at the bank.  I would then use that money to pay for family birthday/Christmas presents.  Suffice it to say over the year, I generally ended up with about £60 - £80 generally but I think it does illustrate how infrequently £2 coins are used compared with £1 coins.

[FosseWay]

I think it is (or used to be) very regional. Where I lived in the UK (East Midlands) I used to get a lot of £2s, often four of them together due to the perennial lack of fivers. But my dad (living in Sheffield) said he never saw any and always got loads of £1s, often including suspect ones.

[gerard974]

Hello
If by the way some members have many 2£ coins ,please look is you have this because is missing for my collection

2 pound   961   Tercentenary claim of right         
2 pound   1279   100th Anniversary first world war 4th portrait         2015
2 pound   NEW   royal navy  4 th portrait           2015
2 pound   NEW   royal navy  5 th portrait          2015
2 pound   1342   Magna carta 4th portrait           2015
2 pound   1343   Magna carta 5th portrait           2015
2 pound   NEW   100th Anniversary first world war 5th portrait         2015
2 pound   NEW   400th Birth Anniv. Of Shakespeare (Comedies)         2016
2 pound   NEW   The Great Fire of London         2016
2 pound   NEW   Aviation Première Guerre mondiale         2017
2 pound   NEW   200e anniversaire de la mort de Jane Austen         2017
i have coins and tokens for to swapp

Best regards Gerard

[Pabitra]

Normally, the mint should be minting denominations as per aggregation of demand from various indenting agencies.
There has to be a reason why the mintage for £2 coins is less.
I think the demand is less. The only reason I can think of is due to unpopularity.

Someone who is more familiar with how production runs are planned or scheduled, may be able to comment.

Left to its own planning, may be the cost of producing £2 coin is more than double that of £1 so mint may economise its production cost by giving you twice the £1 coins. That will make total demand to be met for face value at lower cost.

[Alan71]

I doubt production costs are higher.  Both £2 and £1 are now bi-colour (£1 merely plated, £2 two alloys).  Plus £1 has all of its security features.  The original standard design £2 had a security feature but the commemoratives and rare Britannia standard ones don't.

I also doubt there's unpopularity, at least not from the public anyway.  Retail and major cash users may prefer £1 as they can be given in any change.  £2 can't be given in change of £1 or £3 (or £5, £7 or £9 if no £5 notes available) so it just may be the case that a supply of £1 is a safer option.  Even that's a feeble reason though, if 50p coins are available.

The £2 coin should have been as successful as the 20p coin was back in 1982. That coin drastically reduced demand on the 10p to the point that none of the larger type coins were ever issued again.  Even those in circulation could lie idle in bank vaults for years.  £2 started off well - the £1 was not issued dated 1998 or 1999, and the 1997 issue was lower than it might have been - but from 2000, the £1 was issued in massive numbers again.

[redlock]

According to lore the €1 coin is much more popular than the €2 coin in Italy and especially Spain. (Of course, pre-SARS-CoV-2).

It is not uncommon that there is a shortage of £5 banknotes in the UK? 

[Alan71]

It is not uncommon that there is a shortage of £5 banknotes in the UK? 

Yes, more uncommon now than it once was.  Even some cash machines these days issue £5 notes.  When they were cotton paper, you might sometimes encounter a shop that had run out of fivers, but not so much in the polymer era.

In the days of the old £1, it was annoying when you'd get such old and worn coins in change, but this was compensated by the fact that some might be newer issues with a unique design.  That's gone now as every 12-sided coin has exactly the same reverse (and indeed obverse) design. 

Yet another reason why the comparative rarity of £2 coins is baffling.  The chances of getting a desirable commemorative are minimal.  Going cashless is becoming more of an attractive option all the time...

[Pabitra]

I doubt production costs are higher.  Both £2 and £1 are now bi-colour (£1 merely plated, £2 two alloys).  Plus £1 has all of its security features.  The original standard design £2 had a security feature but the commemoratives and rare Britannia standard ones don't.

Cost of alloy is a significant component of total cost of a coin.
In very large number of cases, Copper Nickel is either replaced by Nickel plated steel or by Nickel Silver ( Copper 65% instead of 75%, Nickel 20% instead of 25 % and Zinc 15%). I am sure, the material part of £2 coin would need a relook.
£1 enhanced security feature add more to techonogy of making the die but have little impact on cost of pressing the coins.

[FosseWay]

I doubt production costs are higher.  Both £2 and £1 are now bi-colour (£1 merely plated, £2 two alloys).  Plus £1 has all of its security features.  The original standard design £2 had a security feature but the commemoratives and rare Britannia standard ones don't.

I also doubt there's unpopularity, at least not from the public anyway.  Retail and major cash users may prefer £1 as they can be given in any change.  £2 can't be given in change of £1 or £3 (or £5, £7 or £9 if no £5 notes available) so it just may be the case that a supply of £1 is a safer option.  Even that's a feeble reason though, if 50p coins are available.

The bit I've bolded is key. The public gets what it is given - it is banks and retailers that determine what is in the tills when they receive change. Alan's reasoning as to why retailers may prefer £1 coins seems sensible, but it's got nothing to do with what shoppers want. I'm actually struggling to think of an occasion where a resizing, new denomination, demonetisation or other fundamental change to the UK's coinage has been driven by "ordinary people" saying they don't like the status quo, as opposed to retailers, banks and others who handle a lot of cash. Even in the three cases I can think of where loss of revenue through fraud was a driving factor for the change, I think it was more the "industry" than the casual user that pushed for it.

(The three cases being, in reverse order, changing the £1 coin to deal with forgery, discontinuing the double florin because it was being "confused" with a crown and people were therefore getting more change than they should, and withdrawing the, er, "withdrawn" sixpence in 1887, which could be gilded and passed as a half-sovereign.)