You don’t have to love football to love this £2 coin…
Have you seen this coin before? It’s the only time the UK has ever had a football themed commemorative £2 coin, but you won’t find one in your change…
As World Cup fever grips the nation once again , it reminds me of Euro ’96 when all anybody could eat, drink and breathe was football-related.
This £2 was struck by the Royal Mint in 1996 ‘In Celebration of Football’
It was such a significant occasion that the Royal Mint even issued a £2 coin “in celebration of football”. Remember, this was back in the days when commemorative coins were rare, and struck mainly for collectors. Just the concept of celebrating a sporting event was unusual – the only coin to have done so prior to this was the 1986 Commonwealth Games £2.
But for such a historic event, a historic coin was needed, and this one did not disappoint.
The first of its kind…and last of its kind
The design of the 1996 £2 coin is attention-grabbing, with the distinctive pattern of a football adorning the reverse. It is also the first and only UK coin to feature a concave or bowl-shaped surface, which adds a convincing three-dimensional illusion to the design.
The coin is renowned for its unique concave surface, which gives the design a 3-D appearance.
Significantly, this coin was also the last of its type and the following year, the bi-metallic £2 coin which is now so familiar to Change Checkers, was introduced.
You don’t need to be a coin fanatic to appreciate the appeal which a coin like this holds for a collector. Neither for that matter do you need to be a football fan to understand what a memento this is for a lover of the game. Euro’96 was the closest England have come to winning a tournament for years, and it was a time when genuine optimism in the national team was infectious rather than the subject of mockery.
Time will tell how England will fare this time around, but let’s hope they can quietly rekindle that passion which swept over the country back in 1996!
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How the Commonwealth Games started £2 Coin Collecting
In 2014 the Royal Mint struck a new circulating coin for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. But I can still remember back to the summer of 1986…
My father worked for a bank. He came home one evening with half a dozen coins in his hands. “I bet you don’t know what these are…”, he said. “They’re the new £2 coin. They’ve been released to celebrate the Commonwealth Games.”
The Royal Mint struck the circulation Commonwealth Games 50p on 25 May 2014
A new denomination for the UK
This was something genuinely new. The only “commemorative” coin in circulation was that slightly odd “hands” 50 pence that no-one really knew much about and there had only been two commemorative crowns issued in the last 20 years – both for Royal events.
The 1996 Commonwealth Games £2 coin changed the face of UK commemorative coins.
This was a brand new denomination and it commemorated a proper non-royal national event that really engaged the nation. Although the 1986 Commonwealth Game coin was largely kept by collectors and never really entered mass circulation, it marked a significant change in the UK’s commemorative coin issuing strategy.
Six more single-coloured commemorative £2 coins were struck over the next 10 years before the introduction of the fully circulating £2 denomination, which has now seen 50 different designs issued.
Of course, amongst those 50 coins are four coins from 2002 – again issued to celebrate the Commonwealth Games – this time held in Manchester. At first glance, you might struggle to spot the difference between them. They all feature the same running athlete trailing a banner behind. But each has a different cameo, representing each of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Find out how to tell these coins apart here >>
Officially the UK’s rarest £2 coin
They are some of the scarcest £2 coins now in circulation, with even the largest mintage (Scotland) set at just 771,750 – just 17% of the first ever commemorative bimetallic £2 coin, which was issued for the Rugby World Cup in 1999.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games £2 coins are some of the rarest ever issued. Their mintage figures are shown below each design.
But the coin you really need to be looking out for is the Northern Ireland £2. Just 485,000 coins were ever struck making it officially the UK’s rarest £2 coin.
75% disappear from circulation
Of course, the 2014 Commonwealth Games coin is a 50p, rather than the previous £2 coins. But with the Royal Mint estimating that as many as 75% of all Olympic 50ps being kept by collectors, it’s definitely worth scouring your change for.
Own the Commonwealth Games coin that started £2 collecting
This coin is no longer in circulation, but we’re giving you the chance to own the UK 1986 Commonwealth Games £2 for your collection.
How much is my coin worth? – A four point guide.
I receive queries on a daily basis from collectors who are keen to know about the origin of their coins and their design. This is in essence what Change Checker is all about – finding a distinctive coin in your loose change and having the intrigue to find out more about its design and history.
But the most common question is how much is my coin worth? Coins are no different to any other kind of collectible in many ways; there are certain criteria which you should always look out for, and which can help you to determine how collectible or valuable your coin is. Often It’s a very difficult question to answer, but I have put together my top four points which are the most important factors to consider.
1. Condition
The stark difference in quality between a circulated and uncirculated £1 coin.
Circulating coins as you would expect are subject to a lot more wear and tear than the coins you find in presentation packs. This is detrimental to the coin’s value because the design begins to lose its shape and definition. Of course, some older coins can maintain desirability because of their history, but on a like-for-like basis, a coin with clear definition in the design will certainly be more valuable than the one which has worn down over time. The sooner you can take your coin out of circulation and add it to your collection, the better.
Whilst collectors do favour coins which are in a good condition, I should also emphasise the importance of not cleaning your coin to try and improve its appearance. This can irreversibly damage the coin and in fact lower its value. General dirt can be removed with a damp, non-abrasive cloth but you should always try and avoid using any chemical-based product.
2. Scarcity
The Kew Gardens 50p hit the headlines in February 2014 for being the rarest circulating coin
Scarcity is possibly the most important factor to consider when trying to determine a coin’s value. Generally speaking, a scarce coin will sell for considerably more than a common one. The Kew Gardens 50p for example is the scarcest of all UK circulating coins; there are just 210,000 in circulation out of approximately 1 billion fifty pence pieces. In February 2014 the British press broke this story and speculation over the coin’s value escalated the price to the point where some were being offered for hundreds of pounds.
Coins are no different to other kinds of commodities in that respect – price is determined by the basic laws of supply and demand. Higher demand is created by a low mintage, which drives the market price of the coin upwards. In the case of the Kew Gardens 50p, this price was artificially high given that the coin is one which you can find in your normal change. But since then the coin has achieved an almost legendary status, meaning finding one today is extremely difficult – most have been squirreled away into private collections.
3. A story
Approximately 100,000 undated 20ps entered circulation in November 2008. It is a rare example of a ‘mule’ coin.
This can often tie-in with rarity, as the coins with a good story behind them tend to be the ones which are difficult to get your hands on! The “undated 20p” is a recent example of a such a coin. It is known as a ‘mule’ – a coin with a mismatched obverse and reverse (heads and tails). The name derives from a mule being the hybrid offspring of a horse and donkey.
In 2008 when the reverse of the 20p coin changed to the new Royal Shield design, approximately 100,000 coins were accidentally struck with the previous obverse die and therefore there was no date on the coin. In a similar way to the Kew Gardens story, some of the prices being quoted as a result of media coverage were extraordinary. Mules are highly sought after by collectors, and an undated 20p will certainly be worth more than its face value in years to come.
The undated 20p is not the first coin to capture the imagination of collectors. In 1933, there were already enough pennies in circulation so only around six or seven were produced with that year date. With no precise record of the number struck, it seemed perfectly feasible for one to turn up in everyday use, prompting an entire generation to begin checking their change. One of these elusive 1933 pennies would be worth around £50,000 in today’s market.
The original Aquatics Olympic 50p design was withdrawn quickly, and not many made it into circulation
Do you recognise these Olympic 50p designs? If you’ve got the one on the left, it could be worth a great deal more than 50p. The Royal Mint initially struck the Aquatics Olympic 50p with the waves flowing over the swimmer’s face before changing the design to make the face more visible. None have recorded an officially catalogued selling price to date, but this ‘error’ coin is exactly the sort of thing which collectors look for, and a three-figure sum for this particular 50p is not unlikely.
4. Striking
The coins we find in our everyday change are finished in a completely different way to the coins in specialist packs and sets.
As a collector you may already be familiar with the various striking methods, but the two main types of finish are as follows:
- Uncirculated
Uncirculated coins are exactly what they say they are – coins which have never entered circulation. They are struck in the same way and from the same metal as circulating coins. Ordinary uncirculated coins can have scuffs and minor imperfections whereas brilliant uncirculated ‘specimen’ coins are issued specially for collectors and have a higher value attached as they have been handled and produced with more care.
- Proof
Proof coins are produced with a much higher standard of finish than the coins in circulation as they are collected purely for their numismatic value. Proof coins will often have an edition limit and specific theme or appearance which collectors look for. They are struck using special dies which are used fewer times and polished between each strike. They have a far more detailed appearance and are produced in much smaller quantities, making them inherently more valuable.
Remember…
The truth is that most coins are worth only their face value. They have been produced extensively for centuries, and far outweigh the number of coin collectors. Therefore the chances that you’ve got something that nobody else has seen before are very slim indeed, but that chance does still exist…
The quick answer to any Change Checker who is curious about the value of their coin, is that if it is legal tender, it will always be worth at least its face value.
Beyond that, they key question is how desirable is it to a collector?
A coin is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it, and there is no black and white guide for this. Just remember, you should never underestimate the importance of checking your change. It’s often the little details which make the big difference to a coin’s value.
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