RAF Lightning II £2 (2018)

The Lightning II £2 was never issued into circulation. It sold fewer brilliant uncirculated coins than any other design in the RAF centenary series, and it is the most expensive of the five to buy. Coins still in their original Royal Mint pack fetch the most, while loose coins with fingerprints or marks on the lined background sell for less.

The RAF Lightning II £2 was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.

The Lightning II coin shows a jet coming out of the coin towards you, nose first and at a slight angle, with its wings and tail crossing into the outer ring. Read the ring: LIGHTNING II sits at the bottom, with RAF and the dates across the top. It is the only coin in the RAF centenary set with an aircraft flying straight at you, which separates it from the Spitfire, Vulcan and Sea King.

The F-35 Lightning II is a multirole jet that entered RAF service in 2018, the centenary year itself, and flies alongside the Typhoon, which makes it the newest aircraft in the series. It was the last of the five designs, released in September 2018 after the RAF badge, the Spitfire, the Vulcan and the Sea King. Richard and Neil Talbot, the brothers behind every aircraft in the series, put the jet at the centre of the coin, seen from the front at a slight angle as it comes towards the viewer. Its wings and tail reach out into the brass ring, and fine horizontal lines fill the field behind it. The legend splits in two, with RAF 1918-2018 over the jet and its name, LIGHTNING II, underneath. The obverse, like the rest of the set, uses Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen, and the edge carries the RAF motto PER ARDUA AD ASTRA.

It was one of the five coins in the RAF centenary set issued in 2018.