General info
Celebrating TT legend Joey Dunlop – The 2025 Isle of Man TT £2!
The Isle of Man has unveiled its annual Isle of Man TT coin, and it pays tribute to one of the most cherished racing legends, Joey Dunlop. 25 years after Dunlop’s unforgettable final victories at the Isle of Man TT in 2000, he’s been honoured on a special commemorative £2 coin that’ll enter circulation on the Island!
Add the 2025 Isle of Man TT £2 to your collection for just £12.50 (+p&p) >>
King of the Roads
Joey Dunlop, affectionately known as “Yer Maun,” secured his place in TT history with a stunning hat-trick in 2000, clinching victories in the Formula One, 250cc, and 125cc races. His performance on the factory Honda VTR SP1 during the Formula One race is particularly legendary, showcasing his unparalleled skill and determination.
The 2025 Isle of Man TT £2 features Dunlop in action on his Honda SP1, a design based on an archive image captured by renowned road racing photographer Stephen Davison.
Did you know? Joey Dunlop featured on the very first Isle of Man TT 50p in 1981! 5,000 of these coins entered circulation on the Isle of Man, and remain in circulation today.
5,000 to enter circulation!
This year, just 5,000 2025 Isle of Man TT £2 coins will enter circulation on the Isle of Man – the smallest circulating mintage of an Isle of Man TT coin since 2018! Isle of Man coins are usually extremely popular with collectors, due to their small mintages compared to their UK counterparts and the fact that they sometimes crop up in UK coinage.
With such a small circulating mintage, your chance of finding a 2025 Isle of Man TT £2 in your change on the Island is slim, and finding one in UK coinage is even slimmer!
So make sure you don’t miss out and add it to your collection in Brilliant Uncirculated quality >>
A history of the TT races on coins
The first Isle of Man TT coin was a 50p issued in 1981, and a new TT coin has been released most years since. The TT 50ps, along with other denominations have proved incredibly popular amongst collectors and motoring enthusiasts alike, with certain coins recently selling for over £200 on eBay!
Here are a few of our favourite Isle of Man TT coins.
2024
In 2024, the Isle of Man TT £2 coin highlighted Creg-ny-Baa – the infamous corner from the TT race course. The reverse design, by Glyn Davies, featured a daring motorcyclist riding around Creg-ny-Baa.
This famous corner is home to the Creg-ny-Baa pub, which sits beside a grandstand that overlooks the race course, both of which also feature on the coin.
7,500 of these coins entered circulation on the Island, HALF of the previous year’s edition limit!
2023
An Isle of Man TT £2 was issued in 2023 to mark the centenary of the Sidecar race being introduced to the TT races. This meant both racer and passenger could take part in the ‘Ultimate Road Race’. The design shows an incredibly detailed depiction of the Sidecar riding through Parliament Square on the Isle of Man.
15,000 of these coins entered circulation on the Isle of Man, meaning collectors and the general public had the chance to find one in their change! But there were many who couldn’t wait to get their hands on the 2023 Isle of Man TT £2 and our initial allocation sold out in just 24 hours!
2022
After a 2 year break due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the TT races returned in 2022 and two new £2 coins were issued to celebrate.
One of the coins featured the iconic TT Grandstand which marks the start and end of the race. The other represented the TT race marshals, most of whom are usually volunteers or motorsports enthusiasts.
A Crown coin was also issued in celebration of the event. It featured the official TT logo in front of the race route map and a chequered flag background.
2019
In 2019, the Isle of Man released two £2 coins marking 112 years since the first TT race in 1907.
The reverse designs features legendary rider, Steve Hislop, racing the Tourist Trophy track.
Steve ‘Hizzy’ Hislop is an 11 time winner of the notorious Tourist Trophy races. His extraordinary racing career has cemented him as a hero of the TT mountain circuit.
2018
These coins were issued in 2018 to celebrate racing legend Mike Hailwood. 2018 marked 60 years since his first TT race and 40 years since his triumphant return.
Just 3,000 of each coin entered circulation on the Isle of Man and we saw unprecedented demand from collectors looking to add the coins to their British Isles collection.
Do you have any Isle of Man TT races coins in your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure your 2025 Isle of Man TT £2
Secure your 2025 Isle of Man TT £2 for just £12.50 (+p&p) >>
How rare is my Salmon 50p?
In October 2024, the 2023 Salmon 50p knocked the Kew Gardens 50p off the top spot and became the new rarest UK 50p in circulation! With a circulating mintage of just 200,000, there are 10,000 less 2023 Salmon 50ps in circulation than the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p, which has been the rarest UK 50p for the last 15 years.
Since the news, collectors have been rushing to find one in their change, but there has been some confusion over which version of the Salmon 50p is actually rare. Let us explain the difference between the different versions and clarify which Salmon 50p is the RAREST UK 50p!
2023 New UK Coinage Sets
The first time we saw the Salmon 50p was in the New UK Coinage set for King Charles III issued in October 2023, which featured 8 brand new designs – from the 1p to the £2 – to usher in the reign of King Charles III.
Each of the new designs featured iconic British wildlife in line with His Majesty’s keen interest in wildlife conservation and plant life.
Although we’d already seen several commemorative 50p, £2 and £5 coins issued bearing His Majesty’s effigy on the obverse, this was the first time we saw his portrait feature on the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and £1.
As well as brand new designs on both sides, these coins also featured a special ‘Privy Mark’ on the obverse – a small crown next to His Majesty’s effigy on the obverse.
This special feature was intended to set the coins in the set apart from those you’ll find in your change once they start to enter circulation.
It’s not yet been announced how many Salmon 50ps in New UK Coinage sets were issued for collectors, but it’s not the Brilliant Uncirculated Salmon 50p with the privy mark you should be looking out for…
Circulating 2023 Salmon 50p
In November 2023, it was announced that an estimated 500,000 2023 Salmon 50ps without the privy mark had entered circulation, and collectors rushed to their local post offices and banks to try and get their hands on one. People were struggling to come across a Salmon 50p in the wild, and it became apparent why almost a year later.
On 7th October 2024, it was announced that only 200,000 2023 Salmon 50ps entered circulation the previous year – less than half of the original estimated amount! That means just ONE in 335 people in the UK could have the chance of snagging one.
In fact, in a recent poll, just 30% of people surveyed said they’d been lucky enough to find a 2023 Salmon 50p in their change!
What about the 2024 and 2025 dated Salmon 50ps?
At the beginning of each year, The Royal Mint issues an Annual Coin Set which usually includes 5 commemorative coins from the year ahead and a full set of definitive coins dated that year. The Salmon 50ps that were issued as part of the 2024 and 2025 Annual Sets will not enter circulation and don’t feature the privy mark on the obverse.
Although it’s incredibly unlikely, if you do happen to come across a 2024 or 2025 dated Salmon 50p in your change, it will have most likely been broken out of an Annual Set and spent.
So how much is my Salmon 50p worth?
It’s worth remembering that it’s the circulation 2023 Salmon 50p without the privy mark that is the rarest UK 50p due to its low mintage figure, and it’s this version which will fetch you a pretty penny on the secondary market.
Some sellers have been listing the Brilliant Uncirculated 2023 Salmon 50p WITH the privy mark on the secondary market for hefty sums, however these are likely to have been broken out of the New UK Coinage Set and will not be one of 200,000 Salmon 50ps in circulation.
Our latest eBay Tracker update revealed that a circulating 2023 Salmon 50p could fetch around £64 on the secondary market – not a bad return on a 50p coin!
Have you caught a Salmon 50p?
Are you one of the lucky collectors who have already caught a 2023 Salmon 50p in your change? Let us know in the comments if you have and where you found it!
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The rare penny worth £72,000!
Do you ever pay attention to the pennies in your change? Well, you might want to take a closer look at your coppers in future, because one particular 1p coin could be worth an astonishing sum!
The 1933 George V Penny is one of the rarest and most sought-after coins in British numismatic history. Despite having a face value of just 1p, this elusive coin has fetched staggering prices at auction. In 2016, an example sold for an incredible £72,000! And its value has been climbing for years – with sales recorded at £40,000 in 2004 and £45,000 in 2006.
Image credit: The Royal Mint Museum
Why is this coin so rare?
During the 1930s, there was such an abundance of pennies already in circulation that no new ones needed to be struck, however a few were still produced for ceremonial purposes. According to the Royal Mint, no official records exist confirming how many 1933 pennies were struck, but seven are known to exist.
Of the known 1933 pennies, one is located in the Royal Mint Museum, one belongs to the British Museum, two are in private collections and one was placed under the foundations the Senate House of the University of London by King George. One was placed under the foundation stone of Church of St Cross in Leeds, but was stolen in 1970 during reconstruction, its whereabouts now unknown. To avoid further thefts, the coin placed under St Mary’s Church in Leeds was dug up and sold, however it’s thought the one underneath Senate House remains in place.
Image Credit: philld / Mount St Mary’s Leeds via Wikimedia Commons
This makes the chances of finding a 1933 Penny in your change almost impossible. But don’t worry if you don’t have one in your collection, as there are plenty of other coins that could still be worth a small fortune…
Fetching a fortune
1983 2p
After the 2p coin design was changed in 1982 to read TWO PENCE instead of NEW PENCE, a few coins were mistakenly struck in 1983 using the old reverse die and therefore have the old inscription of NEW PENCE.
Image Credit: RWB Auctions
It’s not known how many of these coins made their way into circulation, but in 2024, one sold for a whopping £1,000!
Undated 20p
In 2008, the reverse of each denomination from 1p to £1 was redesigned by Matthew Dent to feature a different part of the Royal Arms Shield. The 20p had previously included the date on the reverse, but with the entire face of the coin now devoted to the new design, the Royal Mint produced a new die with the date on the obverse (Queen’s head) side.
However, when the new Royal Shield 20p coins were struck for circulation, the old die was accidentally used, meaning a batch was issued with no date on either side of the coin.
Back in 2008 when this ‘error’ was discovered, one lucky seller sold theirs for a colossal £7,100! Nowadays, an undated 20p fetches around £60 on the secondary market, which is still not a bad return on a 20p coin!
Proceed with caution
Before you get too excited, it’s important to remember that a coin’s condition plays a huge role in determining its value. Coins in perfect condition can be worth far more than their well-worn, damaged, and poor-condition counterparts, and sometimes a minor difference in grade translates to hundreds or even thousands in value!
So, next time you’re checking your change, take a closer look! Who knows? You might just discover a hidden gem worth more than you ever imagined!
Kick start your Penny collection
Whether you’ve got a penny collection already or you’re just starting out, you can piece together a fascinating timeline showing the changing face of Her Majesty with the Queen Elizabeth II Portraits Penny Collecting Page.