First World War Centenary (Navy) £2. The £2 coin that commemorates the Royal Navy’s efforts in World War One is the third rarest coin in circulation, with a mintage figure of just 650,000. 2 Pound Coin Value List. This is based on the number of years the coin has been in circulation and on 2 pound coin bank bags checked. The term rare as used on this webpage refers to a coins availibility in active circulation (coins not held in a private collection), not in terms of the number of coins. Bottom row (L-R): 2 x 150 years of the Underground 2013, First World War 2015; How can I find a rare £2 coin? Between 485,000 and 770,000 of these coins were minted to commemorate the games in Manchester, although the number in circulation is likely to be lower. Royal Mint believes that around 75% of Olympic 50ps have disappeared from circulation due to collectors holding onto them. Commonwealth Games Wales: In total, 2.5 million Commonwealth Games coins were issued, but the mintages for each of the four designs range from 485,500 to 771,500.
Since the first very bi-metallic £2 coins were released back in 1998, there have been over 40 UK £2 coins in circulation! Many of these coins commemorate key moments in Britain’s history and heritage.
But with so many in circulation, how can you tell which are the ones to look for?
Luckily for you, we’ve done the leg work and compiled a number of resources to help you determine how rare your £2 coin is and how much it might be worth.
Mintages
A key tool for working out how rare your coin might be is our £2 mintage chart. Generally speaking, the lower the mintage, the rarer the coin and the harder it will be to find in circulation.
Here are the most up to date mintage charts for UK £2 coins in circulation, with the UK’s rarest circulation £2, the 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland sat in top spot with the lowest mintage figures of just 485,500.
We haven’t been able to include the 2017 Jane Austen £2 or the WW1 Aviation £2 coins in our charts yet as the mintage figures are yet to be released, however you can view our previous £2 mintage figures here. There hasn’t been any feedback from Change Checkers finding these coins in circulation but we’re hoping they’ll turn up soon and do let us know if you find any in your change!
Rare 2 Pound Coins Values
eBay Tracker
To help you determine the value of your coin, we’ve created our eBay Tracker, which takes the last 9 sold prices achieved on eBay and gives you the median price achieved (rounded to the nearest 50p). By taking the median, rather than an average, we avoid skewing created by one or two excessive prices achieved.
Here’s the top 5 highest selling £2 coins from our eBay Tracker, with the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland sitting on top spot as the highest selling £2, followed by the Commonwealth Games England and Wales respectively. In 4th place is the 2017 Jane Austen £2. Mintage figures for this coin have not yet been released and collectors don’t seem to have found the coin in their change, which seems to have made the coin very popular to buy on eBay, but will you wait to find this coin when it enters circulation?
Scarcity Index
To give you a complete picture of how your coin compares to other £2 coins in circulation, we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information to provide the Change Checker Scarcity Index:
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Here’s our most recent Scarcity Index for £2 coins, with yet again the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland coming in on top as the most scarce £2. Where does your £2 rank on the Scarcity Index?
Hopefully these tools will enable you to get a more realistic picture of how rare your £2 is and how much it might be worth. Of course, these figures will change in time as the latest £2 coins are released into circulation, so stay up to date with all our latest coin news and information.
Have you found any rare coins in your change recently? Let us know in the comments below.
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app
It’s official, the new £2 coin has turned 20 years old.
First launched in June 1998, the bi-metallic coin was the first of its kind since tin farthings, with a copper plug in the centre, were issued as tender back in 1692.
The £2 has stirred a tremendous amount of coin fever among collectors and, with new designs due to be released this year, the momentum isn’t showing signs of slowing.
Find out the rarest and most valuable £2 coins in circulation and some exciting new designs to look out for over the year.
What makes a coin rare and valuable?
Coins become rare when there are fewer in circulation. Often the more rare a coin is, the more valuable it becomes to collectors.
Resource’s such as Change Checker’s Scarcity Index can help give an indication of a coin’s value could be. Change Checker is an online platform that allows you to trade rare coins and notes with other collectors.
The Scarcity Index takes into account the following:
- How easy it is to find a coin, which is based on how many of each coin design are listed as “collected” by collectors registered on the platform.
- How ‘in demand’ a coin is, which is based on how many times collectors request to swap for a certain design.
Coins are given a score out of 100 and the higher the score the rarer and more potentially valuable a coin is.
- Find out more:the rarest and most valuable £2 coins revealed
Rarest and most valuable £2 coins 2018
£2 coins designed to commemorate the 2002 Commonwealth Games are the rarest in the UK.
Around 2.5m identical coins were issued for the games but there was one unique difference.
The total release was, in fact, divided into four sets and each set featured a different flag to celebrate the participating Home Nations – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Wales Commonwealth Games £2 coin is the rarest of the set and holds a scarcity score of 100. Only 588,500 coins were minted and could fetch around £90 on eBay.
With a scarcity score of 99, the Northern Ireland Commonwealth games £2 coin is the second rarest. Around 485,000 of this design were minted and it could fetch £56 on eBay.
The third rarest coin, with a scarcity score of 86, is the England Commonwealth Games £2 coin. Only 650,500 of this design were minted and it could earn you around £61.
The Scotland Commonwealth Games £2 coin currently has a scarcity score of 82. 771,750 of this design were minted, the highest of the commemorative sets, and it could earn you around £50 on eBay.
It’s important to note that a coin’s value also lies in the eyes of the collector, so this can also affect how much someone is willing to pay for a particular design.
- Find out more: the rarest coins and notes in circulation right now
New £2 coins 2018
This year has been a big one for collectible change, and has already seen the release of 26 rare A-Z of Britain 10p coins and four new Peter Rabbit 50p coins.
A series of new commemorative £2 coin designs will be released over the next 18 months, so keep your eyes peeled!
Rare 2 Pound Coins Pictures
RAF £2 coin
Five new £2 coins have been designed to commemorate the Centenary of the Royal Air Force which formed on April 1 1918.
The first commemorative coin in the set was designed by Rhys Morgan, and features the RAF badge in the steel centre, to celebrate the Airforce as a whole.
The other four coins in were designed by brothers Richard and Neil Talbot and each feature a different iconic aircraft including the Spitfire, Vulcan, Sea King and Lightning.
WWI Armistice £2 coin
Designed by Stephen Raw this £2 coin commemorates the centenary of the WWI Armistice.
The coin features the quote ‘The truth untold, the pity of war’ from Wilfred Owen’s poem, Strange Meeting.
Owen was a soldier and poet, who’s works were published after he died in action at the age of 25.
Frankenstein £2 coin
A new £2 coin will be released this year to celebrate 200 years since the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Designed by Thomas Doherty, the coin will have the word Frankenstein etched in electric gothic font on the steel coloured centre and feature the quote ‘The Modern Prometheus’ in the yellow outer ring.
Captain Cook £2 coin
It’s been 250 years since Captain Cook left British shores in search of new horizons.
To mark the occasion, a new £2 coin design featuring his ship the ‘HM Bark Endeavour’ will be released soon.
What to do if you find a valuable coin
If you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a rare coin the first thing to do is consult the Royal Mint to make sure it’s real.
They’ll usually send you a letter to confirm it’s authenticity.
Once you have this, you can sell it at auction, online or via a coin dealer.
Our video below explains the different types of coin you can collect and, for more information about how to spot an illegitimate coin, check out our recent investigation revealed: the dark side of the coin investment craze.