It’s been common currency for the past 20 years.

The £2 coin came into circulation on June 15, 1998.

But its arrival was delayed by seven months. Its original issue date was November, 1997 – but the launch was postponed following concerns from the vending industry that the coin would not fit its machines.

GoCompare Money has shared some more facts about the bi-coloured coin that has become part of everyday life.

The Royal Mint held a public competition for a design of the reverse of the first £2 coin. The winning design, by Norfolk art teacher Bruce Rushin, featured a series of concentric circles depicting technological development from the Iron Age to the Industrial Revolution, the Computer Age to the internet.

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The £2 coin was the first bi-metallic coin issued in the UK since tin farthings with a copper plug in 1692.

There are 37 different £2 coin designs currently in circulation.

And three new commemorative designs will be released in 2018. These mark 200 years since the publication of Mary Shelley’s horror novel Frankenstein, the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force and 100 years since the World War 1 Armistice.

There are 479m £2 coins in circulation – although a good few are stashed away – as 31% of adults in the Uk who save money in a coin jar or piggy bank save £2 coins.

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When the £2 coin was launched in June, 1998, a pint of milk cost 34p (compared with about 44p today), a 800g loaf of sliced white bread cost 52p (£1.06), a pint of draft lager cost £1.89 (£3.61) and a litre of unleaded petrol was 66p (£1.19).

The 2002 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games £2 coin is the most scarce and collectable £2 coin in circulation, according to Change Checker’s Scarcity Index.

GoCompare Money spokesperson Matt Sanders said: “Since the £2 coin’s launch 20 years ago, contactless technologies have resulted in Britain becoming an increasingly cashless society.

“According to industry figures, cash now represents less than half of all payments made by consumers and it remains to be seen if the £2 will still be in use in another 20 years.”