2012 London to Rio Handover £2 Coin
The 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 is a circulating £2 with 845,000 made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2012
- Circulation mintage
- 845,000
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Jonathan Olliffe
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 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 worth?
At 845,000, the 2012 London to Rio Handover £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 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 rare?
- It is scarcer than most £2 coins. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 coins were made?
- 845,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2012 London to Rio Handover £2?
- The design is credited to Jonathan Olliffe.
- What is the 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 was made
When the London 2012 Olympics closed on 12 August 2012, the Olympic flag passed to Rio de Janeiro, host of the 2016 Games. This £2 commemorates that handover, just as a 2008 coin had marked London receiving the flag from Beijing. Rio's Games were the first held in South America, which gave the handover extra weight. The relay baton, the image chosen by designer Jonathan Olliffe, sums up the idea of one host city passing the job to the next.
Mintage was very low. The Royal Mint struck only 845,000 for circulation, which made it one of the scarcest commemorative £2 coins issued up to that point. Coins like this are often picked out by collectors before they travel far, so the number you'll actually meet in change is smaller still. Coming at the end of a summer when the whole country was caught up in the Olympics, it had a ready audience. If you only check one 2012 £2, make it this one rather than the far more common Dickens coin from the same year.
How to recognize it
A hand reaches down from the top right holding a relay baton, while another reaches up from the bottom left to take it. Between them a flag sweeps across the coin, starting as the Union Flag and twisting into the flag of Brazil. LONDON 2012 is at the top left and RIO 2016 at the bottom right, with the London 2012 logo at the very top of the coin. The edge reads I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD, the same wording used on the 2008 handover coin. The baton is what sets it apart from that earlier design. Jonathan Olliffe designed it.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2012 London to Rio Handover £2 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 ranks 7th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2002 Commonwealth Games Scotland £2 (771,750); the next more common is the 2008 London Olympics 1908 £2 (910,000).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 12 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 2.2 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2012 alongside 1 other circulating £2 design: the Charles Dickens (8.19 million). The 2012 London to Rio Handover £2 was the scarcest of the year.
What to check on your 2012 London to Rio Handover £2
- Read the edge. It should say I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD. 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.
At 845,000, this is one of the lowest mintage circulating £2 coins. Collectors pay a premium even for worn examples, with stronger interest in coins showing a sharp baton and flag. It is a natural target for fakes. Check that the edge lettering is the Olympic quotation, that the center and ring are two distinct metals sitting tightly together and that the folds of the flag are crisp. A soft, greasy looking surface or poorly formed letters should make you suspicious. Coins from Royal Mint packs are bright and free of the knocks you get on change.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2012 |
| Circulation mintage | 845,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD |
| Designer | Jonathan Olliffe |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2012 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 Charles Dickens £2 Coin | 8,190,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
How rare is the London to Rio handover £2?
It's one of the scarcest £2 coins you can find in change, with just 845,000 struck for circulation. That is fewer than either 2008 Olympic coin and roughly a tenth of the Dickens £2 issued the same year.
How can you tell a real Rio handover £2 from a fake?
Check that the edge reads I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD, that the center and outer ring are different colors and firmly joined and that the baton and flag folds look sharp. If in doubt, compare it with a genuine £2.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.