Flying Scotsman £2 (2023)

No Flying Scotsman £2 was struck for circulation. Standard brilliant uncirculated coins come in the Royal Mint pack, with its illustrated history of the engine, or loose in capsules and certified cards, and a sealed pack sells ahead of a coin in a capsule. The coloured brilliant uncirculated edition and the coloured silver proof and piedfort were limited editions and are priced apart from the plain coin. On any colour coin, scratches or fading in the printed colour lower its value, and on plain coins check the smoke and boiler for rubbing.

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

Look for a steam locomotive in profile running to the left, with smoke streaming back over it and arcs of lines across the top of the coin. FLYING SCOTSMAN and LNER with the engine's number sit on two lines under the engine, and 1923 - 2023 runs along the bottom of the yellow ring. Turn it over and you will find King Charles III rather than Queen Elizabeth II. Some editions have the engine printed in colour. The edge is lettered LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY.

Flying Scotsman was built in Doncaster in 1923 to a design by Nigel Gresley for the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway. An appearance at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924 started the publicity that made it famous around the world, and its records followed: it hauled the first non-stop service between London and Edinburgh in 1928, was the first locomotive in the UK to reach 100mph and the first to travel around the globe. It is still at work as the oldest locomotive running on Britain's main lines. For its centenary in 2023, The Royal Mint struck the first official UK coin in its honour, licensed through SCMG Enterprises. The designer, John Bergdahl, whose earlier £2 designs include the Mary Rose and the Magna Carta, shows the engine side-on and heading left under a plume of smoke, with curved lines sweeping over the top of the coin. Below it are its name and LNER number, and the anniversary dates run around the foot of the outer ring. The edge reads LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY. Ffion Gwillim of The Royal Mint added colour for selected editions.