I purchased just a week ago the following "educational pack" which I have previously seen briefly in someone else's (British) Royal Mint literature. Four pieces are packed in a colourful plastic package of a similar type to those used for the G.B. mint sets. This pack is a must for a WBCC member, surely.) The four pieces are as such:-

a) Outer blank - the plain disc that when punched through the middle will become the outer ring.

b) Inner blank - the blank that will be later fixed into the outer ring blank.

c) "Blank" coin - this is the outer ring and inner core blanks bonded together. But this piece is not exactly blank as the edge is incusely lettered and the rim formed. The edge inscription reads " DECUS ET TUTAMEN * ANNO REGNI XLVI * ", the "*"s are actually not asterisks but small symbols with five sections a little like the rose found on the G.B. 20 Pences, only much smaller. This lettered edge we are told is applied to the outer ring before its original centre is punched out of it. The edge inscription means "An ornament and a safeguard. Regnal year 46.". Regnal dates are rarely seen at all these days, the last regular occurence of regnal dates on the edges of G.B. coins was on the later crowns (5 Shillings) of Queen Victoria (KM-783).

d) Complete trial coin - this is as (c) above but with the final operation. This is the application, in one go, of the obverse and reverse designs and the milled edge. This complete piece has an obverse not quite the same as the actual two pound coin - portrait is slightly different and words are punctuated slightly differently. The reverse has on the inner core a ship design which is a little like that on the New Zealand bimetallic 50 Cents KM-90. The reverse design on the outer core is just the words "ROYAL MINT TRIAL" above the ship and below ship is the date "1994". Finally the lettered edge now has over it a milled edge, like with the edges on the G.B. one Pound coins, of course the words are the same as the words on piece (c) above, however the "rose" symbols are less clear on this piece due to the edge milling application.

The pack tells us that (i) the inner core is of Copper-Nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni), 19.80mm diameter and mass of 6.03 grams and (ii) the outer ring is Nickel-Brass (76% Cu, 20% Zn, 4% Ni), 28.40mm diameter and mass of 5.97 grams. The pack gives the piece a denomination of two pounds. Finally most of the printed information in the pack is about the production of these pieces and this is entitled "From raw metal to finished coin"