RAF Sea King £2 (2018)

No Sea King £2 coins were struck for circulation, so all of them were sold to collectors in 2018. It sold fewer brilliant uncirculated coins than any design in the series except the Lightning II, and it usually costs more than the badge, Spitfire and Vulcan coins. Sealed packs are worth more than loose coins, and handling marks on the fine rotor and winch detail bring the price down.

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

Look for the only helicopter in the RAF centenary set, with a figure dangling beneath it on a line. The aircraft faces left and its rotor reaches into the outer ring. SEA KING is written around the upper left of the ring, and RAF 1918-2018 around the bottom. Like the badge, Spitfire, Vulcan and Lightning II coins, it has PER ARDUA AD ASTRA on the edge, so the helicopter itself is the quickest way to tell it apart.

The Sea King helicopter joined the Royal Air Force in 1978 and served only in search and rescue. Its last mission came on 4 October 2015, when a man found unconscious on the beach at Ilfracombe was picked up and flown to hospital. For the RAF centenary in 2018, The Royal Mint made it the fourth design in the series, released in August. Richard and Neil Talbot show the helicopter flying to the left with a crewman hanging beneath it on the winch line, a reference to the rescue work of its crews. The rotor blades sweep beyond the centre into the brass ring. SEA KING is lettered around the upper left of the ring and RAF 1918-2018 around the bottom. Around the edge, as on its four companions, runs the motto PER ARDUA AD ASTRA, and the obverse carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

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