How much is a 2 pound coin with necklace 1977 worth?

Answer 1

Necklet Rumour

We tell the History of the British Two Pound Coin in full on our websites, which we are not allowed to mention here, however we keep getting so many enquiries, phone calls, e-mails, and visitors asking, that we have provided this separate page specifically to make it quicker and easier for you to find the information you want.

An Urban Myth

During 1999, we became aware of a persistent rumour that a two pound coin with the queen wearing a necklet was worth £15. There is no truth in this rumour. It is the sort of story which appears to start for no particular reason, and then self-perpetuates in a form of "Chinese whispers", so that it becomes part of an urban folklore of misinformation.

1997 Bi-metallic Issue

The rumour relates to the 1997 new bi-metallic two pounds coin. The nearest we can come to solving the "mystery of the queen's necklet" is that a listener phoned a Red Rose Radio / Rock FM phone-in programme, and said that he had heard, from where or whom we do not know, that a two pound coin with the queen wearing a necklet was worth £15. That afternoon we received about four telephone calls all asking was it true, etc.. We were able to quickly ascertain that there was no known rarity or error.

Obverse of 1997 £2 Gold Proof

1986 to 1996 Nickel-brass Issues

All two pound coins from 1986 to 1997 bear the queen's third portrait in which she is shown wearing what appears to be a pearl necklet, from 1998 the obverse (head side) design changed to a more mature fourth portrait, in which the portrait of Her Majesty is shown truncated at the neck rather than the shoulder. She therefore appears without a necklet.

Obverse of 1986 Nickel Brass Issue

The Rumour Won't Die!

We had originally thought that within a few weeks of the radio programme, this particular rumour would die a natural death, but unfortunately it appears to have started to replicate itself, and we still receive numerous telephone calls and e-mails about it. As the weeks pass by, the "value" jumps around, and although £15 is the commonest figure we hear, sometimes it changes to £5, £17, and other figures.

Some People Know Better

A few weeks after the programme, we had a visitor who asked us about the story, and when we told him the facts, he informed us that we were wrong (so why he asked we don't know!), and that he knew somebody who had sold one for £15 plus the £2 face value. We told him that we could find hundreds of them, and that if he could point us to the buyer we would split the profits with him. Apparently it was someone he was talking to in a pub who had sold it to a dealer in Birkenhead. So far he has not been back to claim his share of our potential profits!

If anybody out there knows who made the phone call to the radio station, please let us know, or better still shoot him, and then let us know!

It Can't Be True - It Was In "The Sun"

Since we wrote the above, we believe that the rumour has also appeared in "The Sun" newspaper, which is probably enough to warn most people that the rumour is totally unfounded, and on at least one TV programme.

Obviously the rumour-monger is really having great fun!

Mintage Figures

It is true to say that there were some initial problems with this (the 1997 dated £2 coin, the first of the new bi-metallic two pound coins to be produced. Although it was the UK's first bimetallic coin, they have been in use in other countries for quite a few years, and the Royal Mint have been responsible for producing many bi-metallic coins for other countries.

Teething Troubles With Vending Machines

A small number of vending machine manufacturers appear to have had problems calibrating their older equipment to the "electronic signature" of the new coin, and because of this, the new coin was not officially launched until June 1998, instead of November 1997 as originally planned.

Never Recalled

Because of this, some people have "guessed" or assumed that the 1997 dated coins must have been recalled, or only issued in small quantities. This is not the case.

Quantities Issued

The Royal Mint's issue figures for 1997 show 13,734,625 nickel-brass two pound coins were issued in 1997, followed by 67,268,125 in 1998, excluding special editions for sale to collectors. It is possible that some of the coins produced and issued in 1998 were actually dated 1997, because the Royal Mint, being an efficient factory, does not discard its stock of perfectly usable dies on December 31st each year, but continues using its stock for several months into the new year. During a visit to the Royal Mint on Thursday 9th March 2000, I saw 1999 dated £2 coins still being produced. From this and a small random sampling of £2 coins in circulation, I think it is safe to assume that about 14 million 1997's were issued.

We have a mintage figures page on one of our websites.

Answer 2

Two Pound coins were not issued until 1820.

Answer 3

£100.00