1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 Coin
The 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 is a circulating £2 with 8.21 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1986
- Circulation mintage
- 8,212,184
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Norman Sillman
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 worth?
8.21 million were made, so the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error such as a misaligned or wrong edge, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 rare?
- No. 8.21 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 coins were made?
- 8,212,184 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2?
- The design is credited to Norman Sillman.
- What is the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 made of?
- Nickel-brass (single metal). It weighs 15.98 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Can you still spend the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2?
- Technically yes. The Royal Mint says the single-metal £2 coins of 1986 to 1996 are still legal tender, but banks and shops do not have to accept them. Most people keep them, since they almost never appear in change.
Why the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 was made
Britain's first £2 coin in base metal rather than gold was struck for the XIII Commonwealth Games, held in Edinburgh in the summer of 1986. The Scottish capital had hosted the Games once before, in 1970. On both occasions the athletics took place at Meadowbank Stadium. The 1986 Games are remembered as much for politics as for sport. A large number of countries stayed away in protest at the British government's refusal to back sanctions against apartheid South Africa, so the event went ahead with a much smaller field than its organizers had planned.
The Royal Mint marked the Games with a brand new denomination. The £2 piece was legal tender, but nobody expected it to replace notes or turn up regularly in shop change. Most were bought as souvenirs, handed out as gifts or tucked away in drawers, which is why so many surviving examples look barely used. The coin set the pattern for the next decade: an occasional £2 in nickel-brass, 28.4 mm across, issued for a big anniversary or event. The two-color £2 that people spend today did not reach change until 1998, carrying a 1997 date.
How to recognize it
Norman Sillman's reverse puts a Scottish thistle at the center of the Cross of St Andrew, encircled by a crown of laurel leaves. Thistle and saltire together make this the obvious Scottish coin of the early £2 series. No other design looks like it. Turn the coin on its side and the edge should read XIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND 1986 in capital letters. Edge lettering on British coins can run either way up relative to the portrait, so text that looks upside down is normal and not an error. The obverse carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of the Queen. The whole coin is a single gold-toned alloy, nickel-brass, with no separate ring or center, so it looks quite different from a modern £2.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2 ranks 39th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2012 Charles Dickens £2 (8.19 million); the next more common is the 2007 Abolition of the Slave Trade £2 (8.45 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 1.2 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 22 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £2 dated 1986.
What to check on your 1986 Commonwealth Games 1986 £2
- Read the edge. It should say XIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND 1986. A wrong or missing edge inscription is the quickest sign of a counterfeit.
- This early £2 is a single gold-colored metal throughout and heavier than later two-metal coins.
- Weigh it: a genuine single-metal £2 weighs 15.98 g. Fakes are often a little light and softer in detail.
- Compare the portrait and lettering with a known genuine coin. Blurry letters, a flat portrait or uneven spacing point to a copy.
With 8,212,184 struck for circulation, this is one of the more plentiful single-metal £2 coins. A worn one is generally a face value piece. Clean, unworn coins with their original luster draw a small premium. That is where most collector interest lies. Because so few were ever spent, you have a fair chance of finding a nice one in an old family coin tin. If yours is still in Royal Mint packaging, leave it there: a pack coin keeps bright, unmarked surfaces, while a loose coin usually shows light rubbing on the thistle and on the Queen's cheek.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1986 |
| Circulation mintage | 8,212,184 |
| Composition | Nickel-brass (single metal) |
| Weight | 15.98 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: XIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND 1986 |
| Designer | Norman Sillman |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Frequently asked questions
Was the 1986 Commonwealth Games coin the first £2 coin?
It was the first £2 the Royal Mint struck in base metal. Earlier £2 pieces, the double sovereigns, were gold. It was a single-metal nickel-brass commemorative, quite different from the two-color £2 that entered everyday use in 1998 with a 1997 date.
Why does the 1986 £2 look different from a normal £2?
Because it is older than the bimetallic design. The £2 coins of 1986 to 1996 were made from one alloy, nickel-brass, so they are gold colored all over with no silver-colored center. Both types measure 28.4 mm, but the older coins feel noticeably heavier in the hand.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.