First World War Armistice £2 (2018)

The Armistice £2 was never issued for circulation, so every coin began in a Royal Mint brilliant uncirculated pack or set, or as a proof. It sold in smaller numbers than the Aviation coin issued the year before. A sealed pack, booklet included, sells for more than the coin on its own. Because the design depends on fine lettering over a textured ground, scratches and fingerprints in the centre show clearly and bring the value down.

The First World War Armistice £2 was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.

The First World War Armistice £2 is all text: five lines of hand-lettered words in the centre, with no ship, soldier or aircraft. Look for truth, untold and Pity in mixed capitals and lower case, and the word ARMISTICE in the ring legend. No other coin in the series has TWO POUNDS on the reverse; here it sits at the bottom of the ring. The edge names Wilfred Owen. You will not find one in change, as it was sold only in packs.

The fifth and final coin of the Mint's centenary programme marks the Armistice of 1918, and it is the only one with no picture at all. Stephen Raw built the reverse from a line of Strange Meeting, a poem by Wilfred Owen. Owen was killed on 4 November 1918 during the crossing of the Sambre-Oise Canal in France, one week before the Armistice. Raw set the words THE TRUTH UNTOLD THE PITY OF WAR in hand-drawn letters over five lines, mixing capitals with lower case, so that THE, truth, untold, THE Pity and of war stack down the centre of the coin on a textured background. THE FIRST WORLD WAR • ARMISTICE • 1918 runs round the top and sides of the outer ring, and TWO POUNDS sits at the bottom. The edge lettering is a memorial to the poet himself: WILFRED OWEN KILLED IN ACTION 4 NOV 1918. The obverse carries the Queen's fifth portrait, by Jody Clark. The coin went on sale in brilliant uncirculated packs from 2 January 2018 and was never issued for circulation.

In the First World War set it came after the First World War Aviation £2 of 2017.