New Pence 2p (1983)

This is a genuine Royal Mint error that collectors actively seek, and it sells well above face value. Condition matters because the coins left the Mint in brilliant uncirculated quality: one still in its original 1983 pack, or loose with full lustre, commands more than a toned or handled coin. A coin still in its Martini or Heinz pack also shows where it came from. The normal TWO PENCE coin from the same sets has no premium of this kind.

The New Pence 1983 2p was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.

Check the date and the wording together. The date 1983 is on the heads side, after ELIZABETH II D G REG F D, and the tails side should read TWO PENCE; if it reads NEW PENCE above the feathers, you have the error. The coins were made to brilliant uncirculated standard, so a genuine one normally has a sharper, brighter finish than a worn 2p. Look in 1983 sets first, especially the Martini and Heinz collections.

In 1982 the 2p stopped saying NEW PENCE and began to read TWO PENCE. A year later, a small number of 2ps dated 1983 were struck with an old NEW PENCE reverse die, so they carry the outdated wording. The design is otherwise the familiar one by Christopher Ironside: the Prince of Wales's feathers rising through a coronet, the ICH DIEN ribbon below, a large 2 underneath and a beaded border, with Arnold Machin's portrait and the 1983 date on the other side. The Mint made no 2ps for circulation that year at all. The error coins were made to brilliant uncirculated standard for collector sets, and most have been found in the Martini Great British 1983 Coin Collection, with some in the Heinz uncirculated set of the same year. Most of those sets hold the correct TWO PENCE coin. No example is known to have come from change.