2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 Coin
The 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 is a circulating £2 with 5 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2004
- Circulation mintage
- 5,004,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Robert Lowe
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 worth?
5 million were made, so the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error such as a misaligned or wrong edge, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 rare?
- No. 5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 coins were made?
- 5,004,500 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2?
- The design is credited to Robert Lowe.
- What is the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 was made
On 21 February 1804, a steam locomotive built by the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick hauled a load of iron and a crowd of passengers along the Penydarren tramway near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. Three years earlier he had driven a steam road carriage, nicknamed the Puffing Devil, up a hill in Camborne. It was the first time a steam locomotive had run on rails. The trial came about partly because of a wager between local ironmasters over whether it could be done. The engine completed the run and the bet was won.
The engine was too heavy for the cast iron plates of the tramway, which cracked under its weight, so it never went into regular service. Still, it proved the idea. Railways went on to change the world within a few decades. Trevithick himself never profited much from his inventions and died poor in 1833. Two hundred years after the Penydarren run, the Royal Mint marked the anniversary with a £2 coin. It was struck in large numbers for circulation and is one of the easier commemoratives of the period to find in change.
How to recognize it
Robert Lowe's reverse shows a steam locomotive with the words TWO POUNDS above it, set inside a cog wheel. Around the design runs the inscription R.TREVITHICK 1804 INVENTION INDUSTRY PROGRESS 2004. The edge is different from most commemorative £2 coins of the time: there is no lettering, just milling with an incuse railway line motif. So if you are checking for edge text on this one, don't worry when you find none. The obverse carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait. The coin has the usual cupronickel center inside a nickel-brass ring. The cog wheel framing the engine is the quickest way to pick this coin out of a handful of change.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2 ranks 29th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 1999 Rugby World Cup £2 (4.93 million); the next more common is the 2005 Gunpowder Plot £2 (5.14 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 2 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 13 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £2 dated 2004. The regular Technology reverse accounted for another 12 million that year.
What to check on your 2004 Trevithick Steam Locomotive £2
- Read the edge. This design has no edge lettering: the edge should be milled with an incuse railway line motif. Lettering on the edge of this design, or a crude, uneven edge, is a sign of a counterfeit.
- Check the two metals: a silver-colored center and a gold-colored ring, with the ring tight and level all the way around.
- Weigh it: a genuine two-metal £2 weighs 12.0 g. Fakes are often a little light and softer in detail.
- Compare the portrait and lettering with a known genuine coin. Blurry letters, a flat portrait or uneven spacing point to a copy.
At 5,004,500 for circulation, the Trevithick £2 is common. Worn coins are face value. A sharp uncirculated example brings a small premium. Because there is no edge inscription, checking a doubtful coin comes down to other features. The railway line pattern on the edge should be neat and regular. The gold ring and silver center should differ clearly in color and fit snugly, while the teeth of the cog and the details of the locomotive should look crisp rather than soft or rounded.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2004 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,004,500 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled with an incuse railway line motif, no lettering |
| Designer | Robert Lowe |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Frequently asked questions
Why does the Trevithick £2 have no edge lettering?
It was designed that way. Instead of an inscription, the edge has milling with a small incuse railway line motif, a nod to the locomotive on the reverse. A plain-looking edge on this coin is correct and is not a sign of a fake.
Who was Richard Trevithick?
A Cornish engineer and inventor who built the first steam locomotive to run on rails. Its trial on the Penydarren tramway in South Wales in February 1804 is the event the 2004 £2 commemorates, with the dates 1804 and 2004.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.