Odd coin, please look, hybrid 50p/£2 coin

[adobanton 0]

Hi all, I got this in my change some weeks ago and I'm not sure what to do with it... It is £2 coin sized and made from two parts like the £2. It has brunel on one side and as normal the Queen on the other. Only problem is its got 50p stamped aroud the edge with the date 2006? Is it worth anything. The mint dont normally make mistakes like this do they? Anyhoo, I've included a couple of pics, if you need more just ask. Many thanks.

[Chris Perkins 228]

That's wierd isn't it!

The outer part seems to have been struck with the 50p machine!

Errors are not that common, but they do happen. I've seen coins in the wrong metals, struck on the wrong flan, with bits missing etc.

I'd offer you £60 for the £2 you have. I think that's very fair, but let me have firt priority if you get any other offers.

[adobanton 0]

Im going to keep going back to the shop where they gave me this in that case! Your offer sounds very fair to me, thanks for the quick reply! It's yours if you want it, it will just gather dust here with me.

[Chris Perkins 228]

(All PM'ed and arranged)

[Emperor Oli 0]

Just imagine if it were an American error! The price would go bananas.

[Chris Perkins 228]

British errors tend to usually go for around £20 - £80.

This is an interesting one, so I've bought it (paid with paypal). It all depends on how much someone is willing to pay for it, there is no other measure with errors.

[Chris Perkins 228]

Here's a beter picture of this fascinating error coin, which is now in my possession.

I didn't realise before I got it that it's all cupro-nickel. It's also thinner than a £2 and has a milled edge with no lettering. I'm stumped as to how a 50p and a £2 got merged like this!

[Geordie582 18]

Someone at the RM will be in trouble over that!

[Chris Perkins 228]

I might even put it on the front cover of Check your Change 2007!

[adobanton 0]

My ex-coin is famous, I'm glad you like it so much Chris, It would be great to see on the cover of a book! I've checked all my £2 coins since but no luck lol! Do you think this is one of the most interesting errors you have come across?

[Chris Perkins 228]

Hard to say, because I can't remember all of them! I like it because it's a mixture of 2 coins.

[adobanton 0]

I wonder if its legal face value is £2.50 :-)

[Chris Perkins 228]

I already considered listing a £2.50 coin in the decimal section of a book!

[mint_mark 9]

Here's a beter picture of this fascinating error coin, which is now in my possession.

I didn't realise before I got it that it's all cupro-nickel. It's also thinner than a £2 and has a milled edge with no lettering. I'm stumped as to how a 50p and a £2 got merged like this!

It is weird isn't it? The 50p stuff is underneath, so it might have been a 50p that went through the £2 machine afterwards, but wouldn't it be the 50p shape?

And why has it only got the central part of the £2 design? Are the designs for £2 struck in two passes?

It's not on a 10p blank is it? Then it would be a mixture of three coins!

[Chris Perkins 228]

I wish I had a set of 2006 loose coins for comparison. All I've got is sealed 2006 sets. I think it was struck in a £2 collar because it's the right size. The edge is irregular, kind of varying thicknesses and some of the milling is missing.

So how come there are elements of the £2 design on the IKB side? It has chains in the top left of the reverse, like a proper £2? The rest of the outer part are pure 50p, apart from the shape and edge milling.

I'd love to send it to the mint to see if they could explain exactly what went wrong....But I don't want it dissapearing for months!

[mint_mark 9]

I wish I had a set of 2006 loose coins for comparison. All I've got is sealed 2006 sets. I think it was struck in a £2 collar because it's the right size. The edge is irregular, kind of varying thicknesses and some of the milling is missing.

So how come there are elements of the £2 design on the IKB side? It has chains in the top left of the reverse, like a proper £2? The rest of the outer part are pure 50p, apart from the shape and edge milling.

I'd love to send it to the mint to see if they could explain exactly what went wrong....But I don't want it dissapearing for months!

If it was a finished 50p that went through the £2 press, then that might have squashed it back into an almost circular (and thinner) shape. Maybe it was then thin enough so that the parts of the die that form the outer ring didn't make contact with the metal except for those chain links, leaving the 50p legend to survive?

Would you say it was thicker in the middle than round the edges?

The problem with that theory is there seems a definite ring line on the coin which is outside where the £2 metals would change and seems to be the boundary between the two designs. Look at the line at 11 o'clock on the Brunel side going out to the rim... how could that have happened?

[Chris Perkins 228]

Good theory,

In places, or possibly all over - it's hard to tell - the centre core does seem a bit thicker than the outer.

Something that bemused me too is the face that the centre part is larger than a properly made £2 centre part!