[2] Beyond the usual commemorative versions, no standard two pound coins have been minted for general circulation since 2016, although examples have been issued in uncirculated sets at a premium.

The design itself was first tried out in 1994 when the Royal Mint produced a short run of demonstration pieces to the new bi-metal standard.

The inscription on the reverse read ROYAL MINT TRIAL 1994 with an edge inscription based on the one pound coin which read DECUS ET TUTAMEN ANNO REGNI XLVI, meaning "An ornament and a safeguard – [in the] 46th year of [her] reign".

The Maklouf-effigy coins bear the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D[n 1] on the obverse; the Rank-Broadley coins bear the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRA REG FID DEF.

The coin has the edge inscription STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS, a quote taken from a letter by Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke, in which he describes how his work was built on the knowledge of those that had gone before him.

[7][8] The coin has the edge inscription IN SERVITIO OMNIUM ("In the service of all"), taken from the King's inaugural speech in September 2022.

In 2015, a small number of £2 coins entered circulation that featured the Queen’s head rotated clockwise by approximately 150 degrees.

The Royal Mint stated that the misalignment of the Queen’s effigy was "almost certainly the result of one of the dies working loose and rotating during the striking process".