To collect, or not to collect…the Shakespeare £2 coins!

The answer, of course, is to collect!

Seasoned collectors will know that the 2016 Shakespeare £2 coins are some of the most popular coins in circulation. This isn’t only because they celebrate the most influential literary figure in British history, but because of their intriguing designs and interesting mintage figures.

The Shakespeare £2 coins were issued in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of playwright, poet and actor, William Shakespeare. Each of the 3 coins honours a different genre of Shakespeare’s works – tragedies, comedies and histories.

Tragedies

The Shakespeare Tragedies £2 is inspired by Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. The design, by John Bergdahl, features a skull from the iconic scene in Hamlet where the Prince speaks to the skull of dead court jester, Yorick, lamenting over the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. Next to the skull is a rose, representing Romeo and Juliet.

The edge inscription even reads ‘WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS A MAN’ – the start of a well know quote from Hamlet.

Histories

This coin pays tribute to Shakespeare’s historical plays. It carries the edge inscription ‘THE HOLLOW CROWN’ and features a crown and dagger design. The crown represents the seven different kings who were titular characters in Shakespeare’s historical plays, and the sword is a symbols of the battles and wars that took place in many of these stories.

Comedies

The Comedies £2 features a design of a cap and bells with a Jester’s stick, taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s most famous comedy play – A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It features the edge inscription ‘ALL THE WORLDS A STAGE’, a quote from As You Like It.


Did you know?

When these coins first entered circulation back in 2016, they were stocked in the tills at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Hamlet was being performed at the time.


Mintage Figures

On entering circulation in 2016, mintage figures were released, revealing the Shakespeare Comedies £2 as the rarest of the 3 coins with only 4,355,000 entering circulation. Original figures released were as follows:

  • Shakespeare Histories: 4,615,000
  • Shakespeare Tragedies: 5,995,000
  • Shakespeare Comedies: 4,355,000

However this would change 3 years later in 2019 when the mintages of the Histories £2 and the Tragedies £2 were corrected. Although the Comedies £2 remained the rarest of the 3, it turns out the mintage of the Tragedies £2 was lower than originally stated.

The corrected mintage figures for the 2016 Shakespeare £2 coins are as follows:

  • Shakespeare Histories: 5,655,000
  • Shakespeare Tragedies: 4,615,000
  • Shakespeare Comedies: 4,355,000

As you can see from the £2 mintage figure chart below, both the Comedies and Tragedies are in the top 30 rarest coins in circulation (based solely on mintage figures).

£2 Mintage Figures (updated September 2023)
£2 Mintage Figures (updated September 2023)

Do you have any Shakespeare £2 coins in your collection? Let us know in the comments!

shakespeare-three-coins

If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:

– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers

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How much is your A-Z 10p worth now? August 2020 Update!

The A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins have been a firm favourite with collectors since they were first released in 2018, with 26 Quintessentially British designs capturing the public’s imagination.

Unsurprisingly, some designs are proving more popular than others, but which ones are likely to fetch the most on the secondary market?

We’ve done the hard work for you by taking a look at which A-Z 10p coins are selling for the most on eBay and which ones you should be looking out for.

The Ones to Watch…

If you’re lucky enough to have the ‘A’ for Angel of the North 10p in your collection, you might want to keep hold of it as it currently sells for around £4.20 on the secondary market – over 40 times its face value!

Despite dropping down our August A-Z 10p Scarcity Index, now sitting at the lower half of the index, the ‘B’ for Bond 10p could still fetch you around £3.90!

The N for ‘NHS’ 10p has also increased in value on the secondary market, which comes as no surprise as it also climbed to top spot on our Scarcity Index in May. In recent months, perhaps more than ever, the NHS has played a vital role in keeping us safe and this 10p acts as a reminder of the strength, hope and support of our National Health Service.

How Many A-Z 10ps Are Out There?

In 2019 it was confirmed that there were only 220,000 of each individual design released into circulation in 2018. We know that there were 2.1 million coins issued for 2019 but we’re yet to find out the individual mintage figures for each design.

When the official figures are released we could well see some of these coins increasing in value on the secondary market due to their low mintage!

These coins are notoriously tricky to find, but have you been lucky enough to come across any in your change? Let us know in the comments below.


Own the 2019 Complete Certified Uncirculated A-Z 10p Set

To secure the 2019 Complete Certified Uncirculated A-Z 10p Set, click here

The Shakespeare £2 coins have been released into circulation…

***MINTAGE FIGURE UPDATE***

In 2019 it was revealed that the previous mintage figures of two of the Shakespeare £2 coins weren’t correct..

Below are the correct mintage figures for all three of the 2016 Shakespeare £2 coins:

  • Shakespeare Histories: 5,655,000
  • Shakespeare Tragedies: 4,615,000
  • Shakespeare Comedies: 4,355,000

It’s been confirmed that the Shakespeare £2 coins have been released into circulation, and this is your chance to find one… or all three!

After the exciting news last month that the Peter Rabbit 50ps had been released into circulation in certain parts of England,  it seems to be happening again.

Getting your hands on a brand new coin is an achievement, and we’re certain these Shakespeare £2 coins will be just as popular as the Beatrix Potter 50p’s, so it’s best to be quick.

To mark the 400th anniversary of the most influential literary figure in British history, three £2 coins have been released to honour the work of William Shakespeare.

The brand new Shakespeare £2 coins have been amongst the favourites of the coins due for release in 2016 and when the designs were revealed back in November, the Skull design received a lot of attention, not just from collectors.

shakespeare-three-coins

The three different £2 coins honour Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies and historical works and have been released into circulation just in time for the 400th anniversary of his death on the 23nd April 2016.

The coins have gone into the tills at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon where Hamlet is currently being performed.

Stratford-upon-Avon was where William Shakespeare spent the beginning and end of his life. It is where he was born and bought up, and it also appears it is the place in which he spent the last three years in retirement, with his wife and three children before he died in 1616.

The coins pay tribute to each of Shakespeare’s major genres and the reverse designs take inspiration from his most famous plays, including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth.


If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:

– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers

Change Checker Web App Banner 2 Amends 1024x233 1 1024x233 - Your January 2019 Scarcity Index update!

Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app