2019 Captain Cook II £2 Coin
The 2019 Captain Cook II £2 is a Royal Mint collector issue that was never released into circulation. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2019
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Gary Breeze
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 2019 Captain Cook II £2 worth?
This design was never released into circulation. The Royal Mint sold it in brilliant uncirculated packs and annual sets, so almost every example is a collector piece. One found in change is still legal tender at 2 pounds; out of its pack it brings a small premium at most, while a coin still sealed in its original packaging is what collectors want.
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 2019 Captain Cook II £2 rare?
- It is scarcer than most £2 coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2019 Captain Cook II £2 coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2019 Captain Cook II £2?
- The design is credited to Gary Breeze.
- What is the 2019 Captain Cook II £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2019 Captain Cook II £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2019 Captain Cook II £2 was made
Endeavour reached Tahiti in April 1769. Cook's party set up an observatory at a spot later called Point Venus to watch the transit of Venus across the sun that June. The measurements were part of an international effort to work out the distance between the Earth and the sun. Joseph Banks and the expedition's naturalists also recorded the island's plants, animals and people. Once the observations were done, Cook opened sealed orders and turned south to look for the great southern continent many expected to find. This 2019 coin is the second of the Royal Mint's three Captain Cook two-pound coins, marking 250 years since the stay in Tahiti.
As with the 2018 and 2020 coins in the series, none of these went to banks. The Royal Mint sold them as brilliant uncirculated coins and in the 2019 annual sets only. If one appears in your change, it was bought as a collectible and spent later. It keeps its legal tender value of two pounds and is valid in any normal payment, though as the middle piece of a set it's worth putting aside.
How to recognize it
Gary Breeze's design shows the middle section of HM Bark Endeavour, with 1769 - 2019 CAPTAIN JAMES COOK lettered around the edge of the reverse. On its own the ship looks deliberately cut off, because the stern sits on the 2018 coin and the bow on the 2020 coin. The edge inscription is OCEANI INVESTIGATOR ACERRIMVS, the same Latin used across the whole series. The obverse has Queen Elizabeth II by Jody Clark. The 1769 date and the midsection of the ship tell you this is the Tahiti coin and not one of its partners. Check the date before anything else.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2019 Captain Cook II £2 by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2019 Captain Cook II £2 because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only £2 coins dated 2019 were Wedgwood, Samuel Pepys and D-Day.
No commemorative £2 dated 2019 was released for circulation, which is why so many people hunting change for new designs never see this one.
What to check on your 2019 Captain Cook II £2
- Read the edge. It should say OCEANI INVESTIGATOR ACERRIMVS. 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.
None were issued for circulation, so this middle coin is an unusual find in change. Collectors building the three-coin panorama often need just this one piece to finish it. Condition drives interest: a crisp pack coin attracts a collector premium, a worn one a small premium. To check it's genuine, look for clean detail on the ship, the Latin edge struck evenly all the way round and a center held firmly in its ring. A loose or rattling center is a warning sign.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2019 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: OCEANI INVESTIGATOR ACERRIMVS |
| Designer | Gary Breeze |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2019 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 Wedgwood £2 Coin | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 Samuel Pepys £2 Coin | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 D-Day £2 Coin | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Which Captain Cook £2 is the Tahiti coin?
The 2019 coin. It shows the middle of the Endeavour with 1769 - 2019 CAPTAIN JAMES COOK around it, marking 250 years since Cook's visit to Tahiti. The 2018 coin shows the stern and the 2020 coin the bow.
Why does the 2019 Cook £2 only show part of a ship?
It's the middle piece of a three-coin set. Gary Breeze split the Endeavour across the 2018, 2019 and 2020 coins, so placed side by side in order they form the whole ship.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.