Guinea £2 (2013)

Golden Guinea £2 coins from change sell for a little over face value, and one that is close to unworn, with the fine detail of the arms still sharp, does better. Collectors pay more for the versions sold by The Royal Mint: the brilliant uncirculated coin, released in January 2013 in a pack telling the history of the guinea, and the silver and gold proofs. A pack that has been opened, or a coin that has been handled, loses some of that appeal.

With 2,990,000 struck for circulation, the Guinea £2 is the eighteenth rarest of the 44 ranked £2 designs and has the 83rd lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Uncommon band, for mintages 2,500,000 to 9,999,999.

The next rarer £2 is the London Underground Train £2, with 1,690,000 struck, and the next more common is the Robert Burns £2, with 3,253,000 struck.

The Golden Guinea £2 has a crowned heraldic shield in the centre, pointed at the bottom like the blade of a spade and bearing the royal arms. ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOLDEN GUINEA circles the shield and the date 2013 sits at the foot. The reverse carries no value, so look for TWO POUNDS on the Queen's side. The edge asks WHAT IS A GUINEA? and answers 'TIS A SPLENDID THING.

For centuries the guinea was Britain's main gold coin, and its name came from the part of West Africa that supplied much of the gold used to strike it. It stopped being made during the Napoleonic Wars, when gold was being hoarded, yet the word survives in the Guineas races at Newmarket. In 2013, the 350th anniversary of the first guinea, The Royal Mint honoured it with a £2 coin, the first time it had used one coin to commemorate another. The sculptor Anthony Smith chose one of the most famous guinea designs, the spade guinea of King George III, which took its nickname from the pointed shield that looks like a garden spade. His reverse shows that crowned shield bearing the royal arms, with ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOLDEN GUINEA around it and 2013 at the bottom. The value moves to the other side, under Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen. The edge quotes the writer Stephen Kemble: WHAT IS A GUINEA? 'TIS A SPLENDID THING.