A new £2 Coin for a Great Scottish Poet
For the coin celebrating the life and works of Robert Burns, the Royal Mint was keen to see a non-portrait based design which, focusing on language, would convey the nature of the contribution Robert Burns has made to the culture of Britain generally and of Scotland in particular.In the event, a calligraphic reverse was indeed chosen, the design featuring words taken from Auld Lang Syne while the edge inscription carries the first line of the song - SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT.
A wonderful song celebrating friendship, Auld Lang Syne was described by Burns as 'the old song of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript, until I took it down from an old man's singing'. He had been so impressed with it that in a letter to Mrs Dunlop in December 1788 he praised its composer saying 'light be the turf on the breast of the heaven-inspired Poet who composed this glorious Fragment'.
Auld Lang Syne became one of Robert Burns most famous songs and is still sung every year on New Year's Eve in the English-speaking world. Chosen by The Royal Mint Engraving Team, Auld Lang Syne now provides a splendid and appropriate reverse design for the coin celebrating Robert Burns, the words appearing exactly as they were written down by Burns 'from an old man's singing'.
