Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 (2020)
The 2020 Captain Cook £2 completes the series with the bow of Endeavour and a canoe over a map of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, on the 250th anniversary of Cook sailing those coasts. It is the third of the three Captain Cook £2 coins and one of the 85 £2 designs struck since 1986.
Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 value
- Uncirculated
- typical £18, range £12 to £20
Worked out from 6 published prices (2 price guides, 2 dealer prices and 2 sold-price reports), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
No 2020 Captain Cook £2 was struck for circulation, so every coin comes from a Royal Mint brilliant uncirculated pack or set. It also sold in the smallest numbers of the three Cook coins. A coin in its original pack is worth more than one taken out, and this pack is the final piece of the linked map. Marks on the map and the ship, or dull, toned surfaces, lower the price of a loose coin.
Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 mintage and rarity
The Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot a Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2
The map is the giveaway on the 2020 Captain Cook £2 coin. Look for coastlines with the words BOTANY BAY, the front of the ship and a small canoe. The 2018 coin also has a map, but of Plymouth Sound and with the back of the ship, and the 2019 coin has sails under a sun. On this coin the name sits on the upper left of the outer ring and the dates ending 2020 on the lower right. It was not issued for circulation.
Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 design
The search for the Great Southern Continent came to nothing, so Cook turned west, sailed to New Zealand and went on to reach the east coast of Australia, and was home in Britain the following year. The Royal Mint marked the 250th anniversary of that stage of the voyage with the last of Gary Breeze's three designs, released on 18 May 2020. It shows the bow of HM Bark Endeavour, with a canoe beside it. Beneath them spreads a map tracing Cook's route along the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, with BOTANY BAY named on it and the anniversary numeral on the left. CAPTAIN JAMES COOK curves round the upper left of the outer ring and the dates round the lower right.
In the Captain Cook set it came after the Captain Cook, 1769 Tahiti £2 of 2019.
Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 specifications
- Denomination
- £2
- Year
- 2020
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Not issued for circulation
- Series
- Captain Cook's voyage of discovery
- Occasion
- 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's voyage along the coasts of New Zealand and Australia in 1770
- Designer
- Gary Breeze
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel centre, nickel-brass outer ring
- Weight
- 12 g
- Diameter
- 28.4 mm
- Shape
- Round
- Edge
- Milled, with incuse inscription OCEANI INVESTIGATOR ACERRIMVS
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fifth portrait by Jody Clark
Captain Cook, 1770 Australia and New Zealand £2 questions
Is the 2020 Captain Cook £2 rare?
It was never issued for circulation, and it sold in smaller numbers than the 2018 and 2019 Captain Cook coins, making it the scarcest of the three.
What does the map on the 2020 Captain Cook £2 show?
Cook's route along the coasts of New Zealand and Australia, with Botany Bay named. The bow of Endeavour and a canoe sit over the map.
How do the three Captain Cook £2 coins fit together?
Each shows one part of Endeavour in turn: the stern in 2018, the middle and sails in 2019 and the bow in 2020. The three packs link up to reveal a map of the voyage.