In 2005 to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, the Royal Mint released a very special Limited Issue Gunpowder Plot £2 Two Pound Gold Proof Coin struck in solid 22 Carat Gold.
The planned assassination of James I was the work of a group of conspirators led by Robert Catesby and included Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright, Guy Fawkes and Robert Keyes. The traitors intended to kill the King by blowing up Parliament during the opening ceremony, but suspicions were aroused and the Plot was discovered when Guy Fawkes was found in the cellars of the House of Lords with gunpowder. All the conspirators were then either killed before they stood trial or hung, drawn and quartered.
Four hundred years later, the Plot is still commemorated. On 5th November, Bonfire Night, the skies around the British Isles are a riot of sparkling, jewel colours and the air is thick with smoke from the thousands of bonfires, many of which are still topped with effigies of Guy Fawkes.
Symbols of State, represented in this design by the mace, crosier and sword, allude to the survival under threat of the British establishment. The circular arrangement in which they are shown is also suggestive of a Catherine Wheel and the surrounding stars are a further reference to fireworks. The dates are rendered in an early seventeenth century style of font. The obverse features Ian Rank Broadley's mature, reflective portrait of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. These legal tender coins have been struck to proof quality using specially prepared dies and highly polished blanks.
Limited Mintage of 914 Coins Worldwide
Finished to Royal Mint's Proof Quality Struck in Solid 22 Carat Gold
Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot
