The Great Fire of London £2 coin has an eye-catching design and is a relatively new £2 coin having been released in 2016 – but what is it worth today?
The coin sells for an average of £3.59 on eBay without considering postage and packaging. This is the latest value in 2022 and considers circulated versions only.
Keep reading to learn more about this coin, including the different versions that are available and what they’re worth, and how rare they really are.
How Many Great Fire of London £2 Coins Are In Circulation?
The Royal Mint confirmed the mintage of the coin as 1,625,000, which is a fairly low number when compared to most other £2 coins. To put this into perspective, the coin is just outside of the top 10 rarest £2 coins in terms of mintage.
In terms of how many are in circulation, it is quite difficult to estimate, however, given that the coin was introduced to circulation recently it’s estimated that more than one million are still circulating.
Alongside the circulating version of the coin, there are also brilliant uncirculated and proof versions which were issued as collectable items. The specifications for these can be seen below.
| Version | Mintage | Estimated Value |
| Brilliant Uncirculated | 50,858 | £10-£20 |
| Silver Proof | 2,690 | £50-£80 |
| Silver Proof Piedfort | 1,812 | £110 |
| Gold Proof | 341 | £845 |
These figures include any release date covers, as well as the individual pack and any 2016 coin sets that the coin featured in.
The Design Of The Great Fire of London £2 Coin
The reverse design of this special two pound coin marks a very important moment in British history. Aaron West presents the design from the perspective of a Londoner seeking sanctuary on the Thames. As inspiration, he drew from first-hand accounts from popular figures such as Samuel Pepys.
The reverse side is an image of the dreadful fire that burned London to ashes. It is the design of Aaron West who portrayed a city with smoke billows rising as boats sit and wait in the Thames. The image is from the vantage point of a Londoner who found safety in a boat on the Thames as he watched the city burn.
The skyline extends the entire width of the coin, and a few boats and billows of smoke extend onto the outer rim as well. The designer said that he deliberately let the design spill over the border. He wanted to convey the feeling that the fire was completely out of control and unable to be contained.
The artist’s initials AW are seen just below the skyline of houses on the right-hand side inside the outer rim.
Around the image are the words 1666 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON 2016. The words TWO POUNDS are centred toward the bottom rim of the coin.
The milled edge inscription reads THE WHOLE CITY IN DREADFUL FLAMES
This coin would reveal the new obverse design. The obverse is the Jody Clark design depicting the 5th Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that was first seen on the Britannia 2015 two pound round. The Queen is facing right. Her mature crowned head is wearing the Royal Diamond Diadem crown worn for her Coronation. His initials JC are under the Queen’s truncated neck.
This new obverse would be used on other familiar £2 coins such as Shakespeare coins or the First World War £2.
About Aaron West
Aaron West depicted the scene of the devastating fire on the commemorative coin. He is part of the design team for The Royal Mint and is known for also designing the Sir Isaac Newton 50p.
He joined the Royal Mint in June 2011. At that time, he had applied for a maternity cover position and then was offered a permanent position.
To design The Great Fire of London coin, he broke it down into three elements. First, he concentrated on the bottom of the image which holds the river and the boats. Then, he moved to the middle part, which displays the skyline and the buildings. Finally, he focused on the top part of the design with the smoke. The smoke was the most challenging part of the design.
What Does The Great Fire of London Coin Represent?
The coin remembers the Great Fire that changed London forever. It is a story of destruction but also one of great resilience.
The Great Fire of London ravaged the city, but that didn’t stop the people and their leaders from creating a new London built from the ashes.
The fire started on September 2, 1666. Just two days later, half of London was in flames. The blaze was finally extinguished on September 6.
The source of the fire was found to be a bakery, Thomas Farriner’s bakehouse that was located on Fish Yard, a small enclave off Pudding Lane near London Bridge. The rest of the details are still unknown. But, we do know that there were bread ovens in the bakehouse that could have been the cause.
The summer had been extremely hot, so the wooden houses would have been dry kindling ready to go up in flames. Also, there was a strong east wind that fanned the flames and caused them to quickly and easily spread from house to house.
When the fire was put out, about one-fifth of the city was still standing. Almost every civic building was lost, and about 13,000 homes were completely destroyed. An estimated 70,000 residents’ homes were swallowed up in flames. The huge fire also caused serious damage to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
A monument was erected close to where the fire started to be a constant reminder. In 2016, this coin was commissioned as a reminder as well.
