£2 Coins
UK RRS Discovery £2 Coin Celebrates 125 Years of Adventure
The UK 2025 RRS Discovery £2 has been issued to celebrate the world’s first purpose-built scientific research vessel, and the last traditional wooden ship of its kind in the UK.
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Discovering Antarctica
Built in Dundee in 1901, RRS Discovery became a pioneering vessel in Antarctic exploration. Its ground breaking voyages in the early twentieth century not only transformed our understanding of the world’s coldest continent, but also paved the way for modern oceanographic research.
Image Credit: Holger Uwe Schmitt, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Today, Discovery remains a proud symbol of British exploration, permanently housed in a custom-built dock in Dundee, where thousands of visitors each year step aboard to relive its remarkable history.
And now, for the very first time, this icon of exploration is celebrated on a UK coin.
A Coin ‘Designed for Adventure’
Marking both the 125th anniversary of the ship’s creation and the centenary of the Discovery Oceanographic Expedition, the 2025 UK RRS Discovery £2 is the perfect keepsake for enthusiasts of maritime history, exploration, and scientific discovery.
The reverse design by Gary Breeze shows RRS Discovery in her heyday, surrounded by Antarctic hallmarks that reflect her enduring link with exploration and science. Below the ship are two penguins, a whale tail and a polar projection map of Antarctica.
Did you know? The RRS’s first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition in 1901-1904, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. The expedition found Emperor Penguins and was the first expedition to sight an Emperor Penguin rookery and collect their egg.
Continuing a Tradition of Historic Vessels on UK £2 Coins
The RRS Discovery £2 joins a distinguished line-up of UK coins celebrating legendary ships and naval history.
The 2011 Mary Rose £2 was issued to honour Henry VIII’s flagship, which was raised from the seabed in 1982. With just 1,040,000 Mary Rose £2 coins in circulation, it ranks as less common on our Scarcity Index.
To commemorate the centenary of World War I, the First World War Navy £2 was issued in 2015. The coin features a dreadnaught type battleship which is often mistaken for HMS Belfast, and eagle eyed collectors will also know about the ‘flag error’ on these coins. Find out more >>
In 2020, the iconic Mayflower was featured on a UK £2, to mark the 400th anniversary of the ship that carried the Pilgrims to the New World.
And, most recently, the 2025 HMS Belfast £2 which was issued at the end of 2024 pays tribute to the iconic Royal Navy warship that remains as a floating museum on the River Thames.
With such a strong tradition of historic vessels being celebrated on UK coins, the addition of RRS Discovery feels especially fitting.
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All Aboard! Celebrate 200 Years of the Modern Railway with the 2025 UK £2 Coin
In 1825, history was made on the tracks between Shildon and Stockton. A daring new invention, steam powered locomotion, changed the world forever. Now, 200 years later, a UK £2 coin has been issued to commemorate that seismic moment.
The 2025 UK 200 Years of the Modern Railway £2 coin is a fitting tribute to the journey that transformed the world of rail travel. You may recognise it from the 2025 Annual Coin Set, but the 200 Years of the Modern Railway £2 is now been available individually.
The engine that sparked a rail revolution
It was 27 September 1825 when George Stephenson, the famed railway engineer, stood at the controls of Locomotion No. 1. With 36 waggons in tow, carrying coal, flour, passengers and dreams of industrial progress, it thundered along 26 miles of track from Shildon to Stockton.
Image Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
This was the first time steam-powered locomotion had carried passengers on a public railway, and the world would never be the same. In the decades that followed, railways would stretch across nations, shrink distances, fuel economies, and define the modern age.
Marking a milestone
To mark this bicentenary milestone, The Royal Mint issued the 2025 UK 200 Years of the Modern Railway £2 featuring Locomotion No. 1 in full steam. Designed by William Webb, the reverse captures the raw industrial power and promise of the steam engine as it surges forward, surrounded by the bold inscription ‘THE JOURNEY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD’ and the years 1825-2025.
Around the edge of the coin, the engraving reads ‘ACTIVE · LOCOMOTION NO 1’ – a direct reference to the pioneering machine that paved the way for a new era of rail travel.
Following in the tracks
This release follows in the tracks of the Flying Scotsman £2 released in 2023 to mark 200 years of the iconic locomotive. The 2023 Flying Scotsman £2 was also originally issued in the 2023 Annual Coin Set before being individually released later that year.
If you already have the 2023 Flying Scotsman £2, the 200 Year of the Modern Railway £2 is the perfect addition to your collection celebrating Britain’s legendary railway history.
Get on board and secure yours today
Don’t miss your chance to mark 200 years of transformative travel with this stunning UK coin.
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The 2025 UK Royal Greenwich Observatory £2 – where space meets time
The 2025 UK Royal Greenwich Observatory £2 originally appeared in the 2025 Annual Coin Set, but has now been individually issued!
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350 Years of Navigation
In 1675, King Charles II commissioned what would become one of the most influential scientific institutions in the world – the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
Located in Greenwich, the Royal Observatory is quite literally the place where the world divides into the East and West Hemispheres, and it’s been at the centre of science, astronomy and navigation for three and a half centuries.
Image Credit: Josh268950 via Wikimedia Commons
From establishing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to guiding explorers across oceans, this historic site has played a pivotal role in how we measure space and time. And now, that story has been beautifully captured on a £2 coin.
A treasure trove of symbolism
Designed by Henry Gray, the reverse of this £2 coin is a treasure trove of symbolism, paying tribute to the Observatory’s rich legacy.
Within the reverse design, you’ll spot:
The Shepherd Gate Clock – one of the first public displays of Greenwich Mean Time.
The constellation Ursa Minor and its brightest star, Polaris – a guiding light in the night sky for navigators across the globe.
The Prime Meridian line on a globe – separating the eastern and western hemispheres.
The coin also includes the edge inscription ‘PERFECTING THE ART OF NAVIGATION’, taken from the Observatory’s founding Royal Warrant.
Not the first ‘time’ GMT has featured on a UK coin
In 2018, The Royal Mint released a series of 26 10ps, each featuring a letter of the alphabet and representing something quintessentially British beginning with that letter. The G 10p represented Greenwich Mean Time with the letter ‘G’ and a globe showing the Prime Meridian line.
220,000 G 10ps were issued in 2018 and a further 84,000 entered circulation in 2019. All of the A-Z 10ps are widely regarded as the hardest commemorative coins to find in circulation, due to their tiny mintages and the fact that up to 75% of them are thought to have been taken out of circulation by collectors.
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