Frankenstein £2 (2018)
The Frankenstein £2 of 2018 celebrates the bicentenary of Mary Shelley's novel with the single word FRANKENSTEIN written in jagged, electric capitals. It was sold only to collectors and never went into circulation. It is one of the 85 £2 designs struck since 1986.
Frankenstein £2 value
- Uncirculated
- typical £25, range £22 to £28
Worked out from 7 published prices (3 dealer prices, 2 price guides and 2 sold-price reports), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
The Royal Mint did not strike the Frankenstein £2 for change, so every coin traces back to a pack, capsule or set, and buyers compare them on how they were kept. Coins still sealed in their original Royal Mint pack or capsule are preferred to loose ones, and fingerprints, scuffs or toning pull the value down.
Frankenstein £2 mintage and rarity
The Frankenstein £2 was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot a Frankenstein £2
The Frankenstein £2 is all lettering. One word, FRANKENSTEIN, cuts across the silver-coloured centre in zigzag capitals, like a pulse on a hospital monitor, with fine upright lines behind it. The ring reads BICENTENARY OF MARY SHELLEY'S at the top and THE MODERN PROMETHEUS at the bottom. Look for A SPARK OF BEING on the edge.
Frankenstein £2 design
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was 18, and it was published three years later, when she was 21. It has been part of debates about radical thinking and scientific progress ever since, and many call it the first science fiction novel. The Royal Mint marked its 200th anniversary in 2018 with a design by its own coin designer Thomas T. Docherty that contains no picture at all. FRANKENSTEIN runs across the centre in tall, spiky letters that crackle like electricity, drawn in the style of a heart monitor trace, over a field of fine vertical lines split by a horizontal line. BICENTENARY OF MARY SHELLEY'S curves around the top of the ring, and the novel's subtitle, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS, runs around the bottom between the year of publication and 2018. The edge carries a phrase from the book: A SPARK OF BEING.
Frankenstein £2 specifications
- Denomination
- £2
- Year
- 2018
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Not issued for circulation
- Occasion
- Bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- Designer
- Thomas Docherty
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel centre, nickel-brass outer ring
- Weight
- 12 g
- Diameter
- 28.4 mm
- Shape
- Round
- Edge
- Milled, with incuse inscription A SPARK OF BEING
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fifth portrait by Jody Clark
Frankenstein £2 questions
Was the Frankenstein £2 released into circulation?
No. It was issued only in collector versions, starting with brilliant uncirculated coins from January 2018, so you will not find one in change.
Where does the A SPARK OF BEING edge inscription on the Frankenstein £2 come from?
It is a quotation taken from Mary Shelley's novel, whose bicentenary the coin marks.
Who designed the Frankenstein £2 coin?
Thomas T. Docherty, a coin designer at The Royal Mint. He built the design around the lettering alone, styled like the trace on a heart monitor.