2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 Coin
The 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 is a circulating £2 with 588,500 made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2002
- Circulation mintage
- 588,500
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Matthew Bonaccorsi
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 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 worth?
At 588,500, the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 has a smaller run than most £2 coins, so collectors pay a small premium for it, especially in uncirculated condition. Well circulated examples sit close to face value.
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 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 rare?
- It is scarcer than most £2 coins. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 coins were made?
- 588,500 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2?
- The design is credited to Matthew Bonaccorsi.
- What is the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 was made
Wales sent its own team to Manchester in 2002, as it has to every Commonwealth Games since the first. That event was held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930 under the name British Empire Games. It has gone through several names since. The Manchester Games were the seventeenth, which is why the coin carries the Roman numerals XVII. They ran over the summer of 2002 and drew huge crowds to the new stadium in east Manchester.
To honor all four home nations the Royal Mint struck four versions of its 2002 £2, identical apart from the flag. The Welsh coin carries the red dragon, the only one of the four flags that is not built around a cross. Its circulation mintage of 588,500 makes it the second scarcest of the set, behind only Northern Ireland. It is also one of the lowest mintages of any bimetallic £2 made for circulation. For collectors in Wales it has become a coin to look out for in change. Collectors everywhere watch for it because of the gap it leaves in so many sets.
How to recognize it
Matthew Bonaccorsi's design places a stylized athlete holding a banner at the center, with the inscription XVII COMMONWEALTH GAMES. On the Welsh version the flag beside the figure shows the dragon of Wales, which makes it the easiest variant to identify because there is no cross at all. The edge lettering, shared by all four coins, reads SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP MANCHESTER 2002. The ring is nickel-brass and the center cupronickel, giving the usual gold and silver look. The Queen's portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley is on the obverse. If the flag on your coin shows a cross of any kind, it is one of the other three versions.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2 ranks 3rd lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 (485,500); the next more common is the 2015 Royal Navy £2 (650,000).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 17 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 1.5 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2002 with 3 other circulating £2 designs: the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland (485,500), the Commonwealth Games England (650,500) and the Commonwealth Games Scotland (771,750). 1 of them had a smaller run.
What to check on your 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales £2
- Read the edge. It should say SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP MANCHESTER 2002. A wrong or missing edge inscription is the quickest sign of a counterfeit.
- Check the two metals: a silver-colored center and a gold-colored ring, with the ring tight and level all the way around.
- Weigh it: a genuine two-metal £2 weighs 12.0 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.
Only 588,500 Welsh coins were struck for circulation, a fraction of the usual bimetallic £2 run, so a genuine one carries a collector premium, more again for an unworn coin. The dragon's fine detail is the first thing to wear and also the first place a counterfeit gives itself away: on a real coin the dragon is clearly defined. Check that the edge text is crisp and correct, that the ring and center are different colors and tightly joined with no gap and that the surface doesn't look grainy or pitted, which can point to a cast copy.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2002 |
| Circulation mintage | 588,500 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP MANCHESTER 2002 |
| Designer | Matthew Bonaccorsi |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2002 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 Commonwealth Games England £2 Coin | 650,500 | Small premium |
| 2002 Commonwealth Games Scotland £2 Coin | 771,750 | Small premium |
| 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 Coin | 485,500 | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Which Commonwealth Games £2 has the Welsh flag?
The Wales version, one of four 2002 £2 designs by Matthew Bonaccorsi. The red dragon appears beside the athlete. With 588,500 struck for circulation, it is the second scarcest of the four after Northern Ireland.
Is the Wales Commonwealth Games £2 still legal tender?
Yes. It is a standard bimetallic £2 and can still be spent, but there is little reason to. Its low mintage means collectors pay well above face value, so check it carefully and keep it rather than handing it over in a shop.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.