HMS Beagle £2 (2026)

No circulation figure has been published for the HMS Beagle £2 coin, and it was issued for collectors in the 2026 annual set, in a sealed Royal Mint pack, in capsules and as a proof. A coin still in its sealed pack sells ahead of a loose one. Because the outer ring is covered in small animals and leaves, a loose coin is judged on how crisp that border is, and rubbing on the tortoises or the sails brings the price down. Fingerprints on the open sea and sky around the ship also count against a loose coin.

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

The HMS Beagle £2 has a sailing ship with square sails set in the silver-coloured centre, riding the waves. What marks it out is the outer ring: instead of plain lettering it carries a scrolling border of foliage and animals, with a tortoise on each side. HMS BEAGLE sits along the bottom of the ring. The edge reads THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE, and the obverse shows King Charles III. The animal border also tells it apart from the Mayflower £2 coin, which shows another ship under full sail.

HMS Beagle is one of the best-known ships of exploration in British history, and her fame rests on her second voyage. Charles Darwin sailed aboard as the ship's naturalist, and the specimens he gathered and the observations he made on that journey gave him the evidence for his theory of evolution by natural selection. In 2026, the 200th anniversary of the Beagle's first commission, The Royal Mint marked the ship with a £2 coin created in collaboration with Royal Museums Greenwich. It was first issued in the 2026 annual coin set. The designer, William Webb, had drawn Locomotion No. 1 for the Modern Railway £2 the year before. Here he shows the Beagle as she looked at the height of her working life, her square sails set as she rides the sea in the centre of the coin. The outer ring becomes a border of scrolling foliage built from a selection of the animals Darwin studied on the voyage, with tortoises at the left and right. HMS BEAGLE runs along the bottom of the ring, and the edge reads THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE.