Quite a lot of collectors do not bother with definitives and will concentrate only on pictures. In actual fact, these are probably the most sensible people of all. I say this because the price of unreleased fifty pences or two pounds can be crazy. And quite a few people will not even be aware of this when they first get involved with coins.
Because fifty pences and two pounds are the most commonly collected coins, I am going to concentrate on those. But there are rare and expensive definitives in all denominations. For example, the super-sought-after 1983 ‘New Pence’ 2p take you into four figure territory.
Here are a few examples of unreleased definitive coins along with current prices according to eBay. These will of course fluctuate, but my list is designed to give you at least a rough idea of price for each.
50p:
1972 ‘Britannia’ – £20-£30
2011 ‘Royal Shield Section’ – £60-£70
2016 ‘Royal Shield Section’ – £90-£95
2018 ‘Royal Shield Section’ – £50-£60
£2:
2017 ‘Britannia’ – £40-£45
2018 ‘Britannia’ – £40-£50
2019 ‘Britannia’ – £30-£35
For the moment, fifty pence definitives are the biggest and most expensive issue as there are quite a lot which are unreleased. But since The Royal Mint announced they wouldn’t be putting any two pound coins into circulation for several years, there will obviously be far more of these to pay for in the time ahead…
If you have only just started out collecting coins then this post may well give you food for thought. It is nice to have the entire sequence of a denomination….. but this does come at a high price.
Good luck deciding on the best way forward! 😉
© Article and images (except where stated) copyright Mik Smith 2022
