The Royal Mint has recently commissioned a redesign of the £2 coin by Barber Osgerby, to celebrate the 150th year of the London Underground.
The coin depicts a tube train emerging from a tunnel and features patterned edging reminiscent of the tube map design by Harry Beck.
‘As well as being the oldest underground railway in the world, as an organisation the London Underground has been highly progressive, commissioning pioneering engineering, architecture and art.’ Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby
Two £2 coins have been struck by the mint – the other design was created by Edwina Ellis and uses the roundel underground logo which first appeared in the underground in 1908 (Following that, Edward Johnston added the Underground typeface to the bar of the roundel in 1916 – which appears on Edwina Ellis’ reverse design).
Ellis’ coin is inscripted with the Underground’s advice ‘Mind The Gap’ around its edging, and forms part of a composition, which Ellis says ‘shifts various elements from a treasure trove of graphics, imagery and engineering that forms one of the oldest existant corporate identities.