Edward Jenner £2 (2023)

The Edward Jenner £2 exists only as a collector coin, sold in Royal Mint brilliant uncirculated packs, so condition and packaging set its price. A sealed pack, with the packaging that recounts Jenner's life and work, is worth more than a loose coin. The tiny figures around the virus are fine details that show wear and handling marks quickly, and scratches or fingerprints there lower the value.

The Edward Jenner £2 was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.

Look for a round virus shape at the centre, ringed by rows of tiny people, with EDWARD JENNER above and A VACCINE TO END SMALLPOX below. The heads side shows King Charles III, not Queen Elizabeth II. The Edward Jenner £2 was not issued for circulation, so it will not be in your change.

Edward Jenner found a safe and effective way to protect people against smallpox, a disease feared for centuries, by building on earlier methods of immunisation. His work eventually led to smallpox being wiped out worldwide and opened the way for many more vaccines. The 200th anniversary of his death brought him into the Mint's Innovation in Science range in 2023, with a reverse by Henry Gray. At the centre of the reverse sits a representation of the smallpox virus. Around it, rows of miniature human figures curve outwards in a crowd, standing for the lives saved by vaccination. EDWARD JENNER runs round the top of the outer ring and A VACCINE TO END SMALLPOX round the bottom, and Gray's initials, HDG, appear on the reverse. The edge reads INNOVATION IN SCIENCE · JENNER. On the obverse is Martin Jennings' portrait of King Charles III.

In the Innovation in Science set it followed the Alan Turing 50p of 2022 and was issued in 2023 together with the Ada Lovelace £2.