Rare 2 pound coins Rare two pound coins can be very valuable. But how to make money from them? There are 2 most common ways: sell them to collectors at specialty stores or sell them online. I get a lot of enquiries about the wording on the edges of £1 and £2 coins. Note that the edge lettering can be up one way or the other, it’s completely random. As of March 2020 there are 79 £2 coins. Shown below are all UK £2 coin details: 1986 – 1996 Single metal coins. 1994 Trial Bi-metallic coin. 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.
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Commemorative £2 coins in a single metal (a brass alloy) were struck from 1986 to 1996, usually in very large numbers, but despite this, the £2 coin failed to catch on with the public until the bi-metallic, thinner, lighter coin was introduced in 1998.
There were a total of seven different commemorative single metal £2 coins issued, all of which are shown on this page. Specifications are shown at the bottom of this page. Note: Very rare trial coins are known of, with a ship reverse and the words ‘ROYAL MINT TRIAL’ on them.
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 1 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (bust design by Raphael Maklouf):
The obverse type with its portrait of the Queen by Raphael Maklouf was used on coins 1 to 6 (of 7).
Reverse Type (design by Norman Sillman):
Edge: XIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND 1986.
Mintage for Circulation: 8,212,184.
Collectability/Scarcity: 1 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
A thistle on a St Andrews cross to represent Scotland. The 13th Commonwealth games were held in Edinburgh:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 2 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (same as first image on this page)
Reverse Type (design by John Lobban):
Edge: the edge is plain and milled.
Mintage for Circulation: The total mintage for both 1989 coins is 4,777,891. Most of those (thought to be 4.4m) were this ‘Bill of Rights’ coin.
Collectability/Scarcity: 1 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The design shows the monogram of King William III and Queen Mary (W and M) crowned with the English crown, intertwined around the house of commons mace. The bill of rights was an act of English parliament, it’s full name was ‘An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession on the crown’ and it laid out basic civil rights:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 3 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (same as first image on this page)
Reverse Type (design by John Lobban):
Edge: the edge is plain and milled.
Mintage for Circulation: This ‘Claim of Right’ coin was apparently only circulated in Scotland and the mintage is thought to be as low as 346k.
Collectability/Scarcity: 4 – 5 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The design shows the monogram of King William III and Queen Mary (W and M) crowned with the Scottish crown, intertwined around the house of commons mace. The claim of right was an act of Scottish parliament that stripped James VII (James II of England) of his Scottish crown and passed it to King William (III) and Mary:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 4 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (same as first image on this page)
Reverse Type (design by Leslie Durbin):
Edge: SIC VOS NON VOBIS.
Mintage for Circulation: 1,443,116.
Collectability/Scarcity: 3 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The design shows the monogram of King William III and Queen Mary (W and M) crowned, with Britannia shown below and the dates 1694 and 1994. The Latin on the edge translates as ‘thus we labour but not for ourselves’. The coin commemorates the tercentenary of the Bank of England:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 5 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (same as first image on this page)
Reverse Type (design by John Mills):
Edge: 1945 IN PEACE GOODWILL 1995.
Mintage for Circulation: Thought to be 5,000,000. Slightly conflicting information gives a lower number.
Collectability/Scarcity: 2 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The design shows the dove of peace and commemorates 50 years since the end of WWII. Unusually it doesn’t feature a date on either side, but does have ‘1995’ on the edge. The quote on the edge is from Churchill’s: ‘In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill’.
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 6 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (same as first image on this page)
Reverse Type (design by Michael Rizzello):
Edge: the edge is plain and milled.
Mintage for Circulation: Thought to be 1,750,000. Slightly conflicting information gives a lower number.
Collectability/Scarcity: 3 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The design shows the UN logo in an array of flags. This coin commemorates 50 years since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945:
Commemorative £2 Coin, Type 7 (more information on the type numbers, here):
Obverse Type (bust design by Raphael Maklouf):
Reverse Type (design by John Mills):
Edge: TENTH EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP.
Mintage for Circulation: 5,141,350.
Collectability/Scarcity: 2 (for scale details see here)
The story behind the design:
The design shows a football with the date ‘1996’ in the centre. The coin was issued to mark the 10th UEFA European Football Championship held that year. The coin is slightly concaved and the obverse was altered and has no rim, adding to it’s chunky feel and appearance. Germany beat the Czech Republic 2 – 1 in the final:
Rare 2 Pound Coins Value
Specifications for all 1986 – 1996 single metal £2 coins:
Size: 28.4mm
Width: About 3mm
Metal Composition: An alloy of copper, nickel and zinc (referred to as nickel-brass)
Weight: 15.98 grammes (which is the same weight as the gold double sovereign £2 coin)
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Which coins should you be looking out for in your change?
We’ve taken a look at the mintage figures for UK coins to find out which ones are the rarest in circulation...
What you might be surprised by is that on our top 10 list, just 1 out of the 10 coins is a 50p!
The rarest UK coin currently in circulation is the Kew Gardens 50p, but the 9 rarest coins after that are actually £2s.
Whilst 50p coins are very popular amongst collectors at the moment, it’s certainly worth noting that it is in fact the £2 coins which you should be keeping your eyes peeled for, as some of the ones you can find in your change are very rare.
Other rare coins to look out for
Of course, this doesn’t take into account the rare error coins that have been found in circulation, such as:
Whilst exact mintage figures for these error coins may be unknown, we can assume that they could each be rare enough to find themselves near the top of the list.
A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins
It’s also worth noting that whilst mintage figures for the individual designs haven’t been released, if we assume that each A-Z of Great Britain 10p has been struck in equal quantities, then there would be approximately 281,000 of each design.
This would put each A-Z 10p design in equal second place on the list of the top 10 rarest coins in circulation!
What about the coins no longer in circulation?
Currently the Kew Gardens 50p is the rarest coin in circulation, but did you know that it isn’t actually the UK’s rarest 50p?
This title goes to the 1992/93 UK EC Presidency 50p, with a mintage of just 109,000 – almost half of the Kew Gardens!
2 Pounds British Coins
In 1997, 50p coins were redesigned in the smaller specification and this coin was demonetised, meaning it is no longer in circulation.
The same can be said of the 1989 Claim of Right £2, which was demonetized in 1997 when the bi-metallic £2 coin was introduced.
Valuable One Pound Coins
This coin has a mintage of381,400 which makes it the rarest UK £2 and would put it in second place on the list if it were still in circulation.
Are you lucky enough to have any of the top 10 rarest coins in your collection? Or perhaps you’ve even been lucky enough to get your hands on the pre-1997 coins listed above. 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