Magna Carta £2 (2015)

The Magna Carta £2 had a smaller circulation issue than most commemoratives, so even circulated coins sell above face value, and those with crisp figures do best. The version to look out for carries the fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley: The Royal Mint used it only on brilliant uncirculated coins in packs and sets, so it never reached change. Fifth-portrait brilliant uncirculated coins also sit above circulated ones.

With 1,495,000 struck for circulation, the Magna Carta £2 is the thirteenth rarest of the 44 ranked £2 designs and has the 49th lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Scarce band, for mintages 1,000,000 to 2,499,999.

The next rarer £2 is the Bank of England £2, with 1,443,116 struck, and the next more common is the London Underground Roundel £2, with 1,560,000 struck.

Three medieval figures under arches fill the centre of the Magna Carta £2: a seated king holding a document, a standing bishop on the left and a baron gripping a shield on the right. MAGNA CARTA runs across the top of the ring, and there is no value on this side. Then check the portrait. Coins from change show the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, the fifth portrait. A Magna Carta coin with the earlier tiara portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley came from a brilliant uncirculated pack or set.

Known varieties of the Magna Carta £2, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• Fourth portrait: A 2015 Magna Carta £2 with the fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley was sold only in brilliant uncirculated packs and sets; circulation coins carry the fifth portrait.

Eight centuries before this coin, King John was made to seal Magna Carta, the Great Charter, an agreement with his feuding barons that the king was bound by the law like everyone else and could not abuse his power. It was cancelled and restored many times, yet it is still treated as a foundation of modern law and is cited in court cases today. John Bergdahl gave the 2015 £2 a medieval look. Under a row of Gothic arches, King John sits enthroned in the centre holding the Charter, with a bishop standing for the Church on the left and a baron with a shield on the right. The king is often described as signing it, but in reality he would have used his royal seal, so the scene is symbolic. MAGNA CARTA curves over the top of the ring and the two anniversary years run below. The value is on the other side, and the edge reads FOUNDATION OF LIBERTY. Circulation coins carry Jody Clark's new fifth portrait of the Queen.