An expert has urged people to look out for two £2 coins in circulation that could be worth far more than their face value. If these pieces feature specific errors, combined, they could be worth more than £1,000.
In a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, a content creator known as the Coin Collecting Wizard, explained what to look for. “It’s all about those rare £2 coins you can find in your change,” he said.
The first coin he referred to was minted in 2014. It features the image of Lord Kitchener to mark 100 years since the start of the First World War.
But you need to check the obverse side, also known as the head side, for a mistake that makes it especially rare. The expert said: “This is the Lord Kitchener £2 coin released in 2014 to mark the centenary of World War One.
“But there’s a rare error version that collectors are going crazy for. Normally every £2 coin should have the words ‘two pounds’ on the obverse side, underneath the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
“But some Lord Kitchener coins were accidentally struck without these words. This mistake makes it super rare and collectors are willing to pay big money for it.”
The Royal Mint produced around 5,720,000 of the Lord Kitchener £2 coins. Only a few feature this error.
He added: “These error coins have been spotted selling for anywhere between £900 and £1,000 pounds, and in some cases, even more at auction.”
In February 2024, an error version of the coin was sold at auction to an American bidder for £1,000. The second valuable £2 coin the TikTok expert told people to look for was minted in 2016.
He advised that it is worth looking for the Shakespeare skull £2 coin. However, it needs to feature a mistake along the edge of the coin to be worth extra.
The coin is meant to say, “what a piece of work is a man”, a phrase from Hamlet. Instea,d some of the coins say, “for king and country” which was only meant to appear on some First World War commemorative coins.
He said: “Or you could come across this Shakespeare skull £2 coin from 2016 that also has a rare error. Some have the wrong edge inscription that says ‘for king and country’ instead of ‘what a piece of work is a man’.
“A very cool error to find and some easy money”. This coin has been known to sell for over £200 in the past but at the time of reporting some of these coins were listed on eBay for more than £500.
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