Marking 200 Years Since Abolition
For centuries, Britain was a key player in a lucrative transatlantic trade in millions of enslaved Africans. If they survived the treacherous journey to the Americas, their labour would support the economies of European overseas colonies who traded in sugar, cotton and tobacco.
Decades of work by campaigners like William Wilberforce brought an end to the practice. The 1807 Slave Trade Act outlawed the trade in Britain and its colonies. In 2007, 200 years on, Britain soberly remembered with public events, museum exhibitions and a commemorative £2 coin.
A 22 Carat Gold Two Pound Coin
The Royal Mint issued more than eight million £2 coins to mark the 2007 anniversary. At the same time, 1,000 Gold Proof coins were minted with the same design. They look similar to the circulating coins but the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 contains 14.63 grams of gold.
The inner disc of the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 is made of 22 Carat yellow gold, while the outer ring is made of red gold with the same 0.916 fineness. This eye-catching coin has a total weight of 15.98 grams and a diameter of 28.40 millimetres.
Symbolic Reverse By David Gentleman
The reverse of the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 features a deceptively simple design. The legend reads 'AN ACT FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE': the full name of the 1807 Act of Parliament that outlawed the trade. The date of issue, 2007, is below.
The central device depicts a chain with a broken link, symbolically forming the 0 in 1807. This is the work of David Gentleman, a prolific English artist who also designed the commemorative 2004 Entente Cordiale £5 coin. Gentleman's initials, DG, appear to the right of the broken chain.
'Am I Not A Man And A Brother'
Around the edge of the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 is a memorable inscription: 'AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER'. This impassioned plea became a catchphrase among British and American Abolitionists: the campaigners who sought to end slavery.
You can find this phrase on all kinds of decorative items from the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries, most famously stoneware cameos, crafted by Josiah Wedgewood. It was often accompanied by the image of a kneeling African man, pleading with shackled hands.
Ian Rank-Broadley's Fourth Portrait
The 1807 Slave Trade Act was granted Royal Assent by King George III. In 2007 it was his descendant, Elizabeth II, who spoke at a service in Westminster Abbey to mark the bicentenary. It is her portrait that features on the obverse of the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2.
The effigy used is the fourth official coinage portrait of HM the Queen, designed by sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley and in use between 1998 and 2015. The inscription on this £2 coin reads 'ELIZABETH · II · D · G · REG · FID · DEF ·' and 'TWO POUNDS'. The artist's initials, IRB, are below the Queen's neck.
A Collectible Commemorative Coin
The Royal Mint first issued a commemorative £2 coin in 1986, celebrating the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Further designs were minted to celebrate national events. Bi-metallic £2 coins, intended for circulation, were only introduced in the UK in 1998.
This Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 is part of a highly limited mintage of just 1,000. It comes sealed in its original capsule, inside a green faux-leather Royal Mint case. Also included is a numbered certificate of authenticity, confirming that this is the genuine article.
Legal Tender and Capital Gains Tax Free
Though the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 is worth much more, thanks to its rarity and high gold content, it is still legal tender with a face value of £2. Because coins like this are legal currency in the UK they are free from Capital Gains Tax.
Capital Gains Tax becomes payable on profit you make when you sell assets worth more than £12,300 in a financial year. If you are diversifying your investments with gold bullion, coins like the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007 Gold Proof £2 are a great way to take advantage of this.
Steeped in more than 1,100 years of history, the Royal Mint supplies all of the United Kingdom's coinage as well as currency for nations around the world. Renown for craftsmanship and thoughtful design, the Royal Mint also produces commemorative coins, favoured by investors and collectors.
A Millenia of Minting
Founded in the reign of Alfred the Great, around the year 886, the Royal Mint was originally one of several mints which were centralised to London in 1279. For more than 800 years the Mint was based at the Tower of London before moving to Royal Mint Court where it remained until the 1960s.
The Royal Mint has always been on the forefront of economic, technical and artistic innovation. Its skilled craftsmen minted coins that would reach the far corners of the British Empire, establishing the image and reputation of Britain for all whose pockets they ended up in.
In 2010 the Royal Mint became a limited company owned by Her Majesty's Treasury. In recent years the Mint has struck medals for the 2012 London Olympic Games and opened a visitor centre, The Royal Mint Experience, in Llantrisant, Wales: the current home of the Royal Mint.
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