1971 UK 2 New Pence In Cupro Nickel?

I've heard nothing, and there's nothing in Spink on the subject.

The 2p and the old 10p were virtually the same size; cupronickel would never have been considered an option for the 2p coin, as it would have caused mass confusion. Assuming they exist, I suspect any such "cupronickel 2p coins" would be wrong planchet errors, rather than a deliberate off-metal striking by the Mint.

Sap and svslav, thanks for the replies.

Some years ago I did come by a 1971 cupro-nickel 2 New Pence coin given to me by a friend. The coin itself is slightly struck off centre which gives the effect of it being minisculey out of round. I'm not at all familiar with the 10p planchet, but if it's a tad smaller than the 2p planchet, this may explain the out of round appearance.

I'm not a collector of world coins, although I did understand the possible rare nature of this particular piece, but things being what they are, the subject has languished in the darkness until now. The reason for mentioning in my earlier post the possibility of there being at least seven other coins of this type in existence, was because of a conversation I had at the time with a person at the Brisbane coin fair who said the operational nature of the presses used at The Royal Mint in 1971 would have meant that coins were minted in lots of eight. Maybe someone could confirm this or otherwise. I have made enquiries with The Royal Mint but no reply as of yet.

I was probably being a little optimistic in thinking there may have been a trial mintage of eight specimen 2p coins in cupro-nickel, and actually having one in my possession would have been outstanding. But at the very least, it looks as if a stray planchet somehow made it's way into the 2p bin at The Royal Mint. I would venture to say there shouldn't be too many of these around anyway, so that's not so dusty either!

Well, it's certainly more than just a "home-made plate job". It sure looks like a wrong planchet of some kind.

The 10p is actually larger than the 2p, not smaller as seems to have been the case here, so it might be the blank from a 5p, or perhaps a foreign coin the RM was striking at the time.

Do you have a weight? That might help narrow down the coin the planchet was intended for.

In the first few years after The Royal Mint moved to Llanstrisant, a few wrong planchet errors escaped from the Mint. Does not happen so often now.