HMS Belfast £2 (2025)

The HMS Belfast £2 was never struck for circulation. Brilliant uncirculated coins were sold in a Royal Mint pack about the ship's service and loose in capsules, and silver proof, silver piedfort and gold proof versions were struck in limited editions. A pack kept sealed holds its value better than a coin taken out, because a loose coin's condition is judged closely. On a loose coin, check the mast, the upper works of the ship and the crests of the waves for rubbing. Each proof version has its own separate market.

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

The HMS Belfast £2 shows a warship seen from ahead at an angle, her bow to the right, filling the silver-coloured centre, with her mast reaching up into the yellow ring at the upper left. Waves run along the bottom of the centre. HMS BELFAST is lettered around the upper right of the ring. The edge carries her Latin motto, PRO · TANTO · QVID · RETRIBVAMVS, and King Charles III is on the obverse.

HMS Belfast served the Royal Navy for 25 years across the Second World War, the Korean War and the Cold War. In 1943 she escorted Arctic convoys, fought at the Battle of North Cape and played her part in the sinking of the Scharnhorst, and in 1944 she supported the Normandy landings on D-Day. Today she is part of Imperial War Museums and is moored on the River Thames in London. The Royal Mint sells the 2025 coin as part of a range celebrating iconic naval vessels. The designer and sculptor Gary Breeze, whose earlier £2 designs include the Captain Cook voyages and Samuel Pepys, worked with Imperial War Museums on the design. He shows the cruiser as she appeared in the 1960s, seen from ahead and slightly to one side with her bow pointing right and waves at her waterline. Her mast climbs into the outer ring at the upper left, and HMS BELFAST curves around the upper right. The edge carries the ship's Latin motto, PRO TANTO QVID RETRIBVAMVS. The Royal Mint pack tells the story of her service.