RARE coins can fetch almost 50 times their face value at nearly £100, if they’re in the right condition and feature a collectable twist on the original design.
There are 54 different £2 coin designs currently in circulation, which coin hunters are willing to pay steeper prices for.
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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 means not many have been produced, which is more appealing to collectors as they’re harder to get a hold of.
That said, ChangeChecker’s scarcity index also takes into account two other key pieces of information.
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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 – £82
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The 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 coin tops ChangeChecker’s scarcity index list.
One has recently sold on eBay for £82 – attracting 24 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 – £36
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In second place is the Commonwealth Games coin for England, which recently sold for £36.01 on eBay.
There are just 650,500 of these in circulation.
3. 2002 Commonwealth Games Scotland – £38
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The 2002 Scottish Commonwealth Games coin comes moved down to third place as it was second place in the scarcity index in May.
The coin has slightly reduced in.value but one still recently sold for £38 on eBay after gathering two bids.
There are 771,750 of these in circulation.
4. Olympic handover – £36
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Now making it into 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.
One recently sold for £36, and appear to have gone up in value – in 2019, they were fetching around £16.
There are 918,000 of these in circulation.
5. London 2012 handover – £65
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The London 2012 handover coin commemorates the UK capital handing over the Olympic flame to Rio, which held the games in 2016.
This has climbed in the scarcity list from number six.
A version of the coin sold for £65 on eBay in August 2021.
There are 845,000 in circulation.
6. 2015 First World War (navy) – £22
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Launched in 2015 as part of a set of £2 coins that mark the centenary of WWI, 100 of these two pounds were given to HMS Belfast.
Coin hunters flocked to the ship to track them down.
We found a eBay listing where it sold for £22 after 10 bids.
7. 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales – £46
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The Commonwealth Games coin for Wales has moved down to 7th in the list.
A circulated version recently sold on eBay for £46 after attracting 12 bids.
There are 588,500 of these in circulation.
8. Olympic centenary – £13.50
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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.
One version sold on eBay for £13.50, almost seven times its face value.
9. King James Bible – £25
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Next on the list is a coin showing the King James Bible.
One sold on eBay in June 2021 for £25.
According to Change Checker, there are 975,000 in circulation.
10. London Underground Roundel – £29.95
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There are more than 1.5 million of these London Underground themed coins in circulation.
One showing the famous roundel of the capital’s transport system sold in June 2021 for £29.95 on eBay, with just one bid.
11. Magna Carta – £25
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The Magna Carta coin celebrates the 800th Anniversary of the Signing of Magna Carta.
The £2 sold recently for £25 on eBay getting 16 bids
It has been in circulation since 2015, and there are currently 1,495,000 of them in people’s purses, banks and tills across the country.
12. Mary Rose – £24
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A circulated £2 showing the famous Mary Rose ship sold on eBay for £24 – so despite being 12th on the Scarcity Index it is still commanding a good price.
There are just over one million in circulation.
13. William Shakespeare – £50
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A collection of £2 coins celebrating William Shakespeare’s work and the 400th anniversary since his death was released in 2016.
Collectors could get coins commemorating Shakespeare histories, tragedies and comedies.
More than 4million of each were made and one of the Shakespeare histories coin sold for £50 in July 2021.
It’s a little lower down the scarcity index currently, but it’s still popular with collectors.
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 six 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.
Mystery of treasure trove of gold coins hidden in piano in Shropshire
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