H.G. Wells £2 (2021)

No H.G. Wells £2 was struck for circulation, so the coins on the market are brilliant uncirculated examples from packs and the 2021 annual set, plus base metal, silver and gold proofs. A sealed Royal Mint pack, designed around Wells's best-known books, sells ahead of a loose coin. On a loose coin, check the thin legs of the tripod and the numerals on the ring for handling marks. The wide-ring variety is valued as an error in its own right, so check the ring width of any example.

The H.G. Wells £2 was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.

Look for a tall Martian tripod walking on four legs, with the outline of the Invisible Man beside it, set in front of a clock. The clock's Roman numerals fill the yellow outer ring with XII at the top, and 2021 H.G. WELLS reads beneath the figures. The edge says GOOD BOOKS ARE THE WAREHOUSES OF IDEAS, and Queen Elizabeth II is on the obverse. One variety was struck on a blank with a much wider yellow ring than normal; beside an ordinary coin the extra width is easy to see.

Known varieties of the H.G. Wells £2, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• Wide outer ring: Struck on a blank with a noticeably thicker yellow outer ring than normal.

Herbert George Wells used his scientific training and a restless imagination to write a new kind of novel in the late 19th century, and the genre he opened up later took the name science fiction. That work made him known around the world as the Father of Science Fiction, and books such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds are still read today. In 2021, the 75th anniversary of his death, The Royal Mint gave him his first UK coin as part of its Great Britons coins. Chris Costello, who had designed the Mayflower £2 a year before, drew several of the novels into a single picture: a towering Martian tripod stands beside the faint figure of the Invisible Man, and behind them a clock face spreads its Roman numerals around the outer ring. The date and H.G. WELLS sit below. The edge inscription, GOOD BOOKS ARE THE WAREHOUSES OF IDEAS, is adapted from Wells's own words. When the coin appeared in the 2021 annual coin set, collectors saw that the tripod had four legs, and the slip made headlines.