Rare £2 coins: The 12 most valuable in circulation – from Magna Carta to the Commonwealth Games

THERE are 55 different £2 coin designs currently in circulation, and some of the rarest are worth more than 25 times their face value at £51.

Coin site ChangeChecker has released a list of the coins to watch out for and if you find any of the ones below in your pocket, have a look on eBay because you could be quids in.

In general, the lower the mintage the rarer the coin, and the rarer the coin the more valuable it is.

That said, ChangeChecker’s scarcity index also takes into account two other key pieces of information.

This includes how many of each coin are listed as “collected” by members of the site, which indicates the relative ease of finding a particular coin.

The experts also looked at the number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous three months, showing the current level of collector demand.

Here’s which coins came up trumps and how much circulated versions – the ones cropping up in your change – have recently sold for on eBay.

1. 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland – £51

24carat.co.uk

The 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 coin tops ChangeChecker’s scarcity index list.

One has recently sold on eBay for £51 – more than 25 times its face value – attracting 16 bids.

There are just 485,500 of these in circulation.

You can check which version of the coin you have by looking at the flag in the circle – it will either depict the English, Northern Irish, Scottish, or Welsh flag.

2. 2002 Commonwealth Games England – £50

Coinhunter

You can tell which country’s coin you have by the flag in the circle[/caption]

In second place is the Commonwealth Games coin for England, which recently sold for £50 on eBay, although the listing attracted just the one bid.

There are just 650,500 of these in circulation.

3. 2002 Commonwealth Games Scotland – £16

The 2002 Scottish Commonwealth Games coin comes in third place.

One recently sold for £16 on eBay after gathering 14 bids, although it has fetched more in the past, and used to be second in the Scarcity Index list.

There are 771,750 of these in circulation.

4. 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales – £29

24carat.co.uk

A Welsh Commonwealth Games coin recently sold for £29[/caption]

The Commonwealth Games coin for Wales is the fourth in the list – but has recently been selling for a higher price than the Scotland version.

A circulated version recently sold on eBay for £29 after attracting 18 bids.

There are 588,500 of these in circulation.

5. Olympic handover – £9.50

Completing the top five is the Olympic Handover coin.

This £2 details Beijing in 2008 handing over the Olympics to London for 2012, and shows the Olympic flag and two hands shaking.

This seems to have dropped in value over the last year: one recently sold for £9.50, but in 2019, they were fetching around £16.

There are 918,000 of these in circulation.

6. King James Bible – £8.75

Next on the list is a coin showing the King James Bible.

One of these sold on ebay last month for £8.75, although it only attracted one bid.

The coin has become more rare in recent months, jumping four places on the Scarcity Index since last summer.

According to Change Checker, there are 975,000 in circulation.

7. London 2012 handover – £9.41

The London 2012 handover coin commemorates the UK capital handing over the Olympic flame to Rio, which held the games in 2016.

A circulated coin sold for £9.41 on ebay in July, attracting 12 bids.

There are 845,000 in circulation.

8. Olympic centenary – £8.15

Carrying on the sporting theme, the Olympic centenary £2 marked 100 years of the modern games in 2008, and there are 910,000 in circulation.

Most recently, one sold on ebay for £8.15, more than four times its face value.

The listing attracted nine bids.

9. Mary Rose – £9.49

A £2 showing the famous Mary Rose ship sold on ebay in early July for £9.49 after five bids – so despite being ninth on the Scarcity Index it is still commanding a good price.

There are just over 1 million in circulation.

10. London Underground Roundel – £5.50

This is the first of two London Underground-themed coins on the list, and there are more than 1.5 million of them in circulation.

One showing the famous roundel of the capital’s transport system sold in July for £5.50 on ebay, with six bids.

11. London Underground train – £4.40

Showing a picture of a tube train, this £2 sells for around £4 on ebay at the moment.

A single circulated coin sold in June for £4.40, although only one person bid on it.

It has been in circulation since 2013, and there are currently 1,690,000 of them in people’s purses, banks and tills across the country.

12. Magna Carta – £6.50

Royal Mint

This Magna Carta coin was released in 2015, 800 years after the document was signed.

One of the two quids sold on ebay for £6.50 in July, although with only one bid.

There almost 1.5 million in circulation at the moment.

It is not just £2 coins which could net you a windfall; rare £1 coins also sell for more than their face value, as do 10p coins.

You could also check your wallet for any loose change – here are the eight rarest and most valuable coins.

And an ultra-rare silver 2p error coin was found by a collector in Kent, and it could be worth a whopping £1,350.

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