1996 Euro 96 £2 Coin
The 1996 Euro 96 £2 is a circulating £2 with 5.14 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1996
- Circulation mintage
- 5,141,350
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- John Mills
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 1996 Euro 96 £2 worth?
5.14 million were made, so the 1996 Euro 96 £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 1996 Euro 96 £2 rare?
- No. 5.14 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1996 Euro 96 £2 coins were made?
- 5,141,350 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 1996 Euro 96 £2?
- The design is credited to John Mills.
- What is the 1996 Euro 96 £2 made of?
- Nickel-brass (single metal). It weighs 15.98 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Can you still spend the 1996 Euro 96 £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 1996 Euro 96 £2 was made
England hosted the European Football Championship in June 1996, thirty years after England won the 1966 World Cup. For the first time the finals featured sixteen teams. Matches were spread across eight English grounds and the tournament ended at Wembley, where Germany beat the Czech Republic with a golden goal. England reached the semi-finals before going out to Germany on penalties, a summer still fondly remembered by fans who were there or watched at home. The song Three Lions, with its chorus about football coming home, became the soundtrack of that summer.
The Royal Mint struck a £2 for the occasion, with an edge inscription naming the tournament. It turned out to be the last of the single-metal nickel-brass £2 coins: a new two-color £2, dated 1997, followed for general circulation. With more than five million made, the Euro 96 coin is among the most common of the early types. It is a favorite with football fans who may not otherwise collect coins at all. It often turns up in boxes of sporting souvenirs from that summer, sometimes still in the packaging it was sold in.
How to recognize it
John Mills, who also drew the 1995 dove, designed a stylized football with the date 1996 placed at its center. Around it sit sixteen small rings representing the sixteen teams that qualified for the finals. Check the edge for the words TENTH EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, which confirm the issue. There is no team name or crest on the coin, so the football and its ring of sixteen circles are the identifying features. Like the other early £2 pieces it is struck in one alloy, so the whole coin is gold colored. The obverse shows Raphael Maklouf's portrait. It is easy to tell from the 1986 and 1989 coins, which carry national and royal symbols rather than sport.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1996 Euro 96 £2 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1996 Euro 96 £2 ranks 31st lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 (5.14 million); the next more common is the 2016 Shakespeare Histories £2 (5.66 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 2 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 13 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £2 dated 1996.
What to check on your 1996 Euro 96 £2
- Read the edge. It should say TENTH EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP. 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.
At 5,141,350 for circulation, this is a common coin. Worn examples are face value pieces. Uncirculated coins draw a small premium, mostly from football collectors. Wear shows first on the raised panels of the ball, so check those under a good light. Coins taken from circulation often have knocks on the rim and fine scratches across the field. Keep yours in a coin flip or capsule rather than a jar if you want it to stay in good shape. Handle it by the edge.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1996 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,141,350 |
| Composition | Nickel-brass (single metal) |
| Weight | 15.98 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: TENTH EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP |
| Designer | John Mills |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Frequently asked questions
Is the Euro 96 £2 coin rare?
No. More than five million were struck for circulation, one of the higher mintages among the single-metal £2 coins. It's a popular coin with football fans, but a worn one is a face value coin and uncirculated examples carry only a small premium.
What do the sixteen rings on the Euro 96 £2 mean?
They stand for the sixteen nations that took part in the 1996 finals, the first European Championship played with that many teams. The rings circle a stylized football with the date 1996 at its center. The edge reads TENTH EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.