2006 Brunel Portrait £2 Coin
The 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 is a circulating £2 with 7.93 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2006
- Circulation mintage
- 7,928,250
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Rod Kelly
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 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 worth?
7.93 million were made, so the 2006 Brunel Portrait £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 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 rare?
- No. 7.93 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 coins were made?
- 7,928,250 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2006 Brunel Portrait £2?
- The design is credited to Rod Kelly.
- What is the 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 was made
Brunel collapsed with a stroke aboard his giant ship the Great Eastern in September 1859 shortly before its first voyage and died a few days later aged 53. His reputation has only grown since. In 2002 he came second in a national television poll to find the greatest Briton, behind only Winston Churchill. His bridges, tunnels and railways are still in daily use, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol to the Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar. His steamship the Great Britain is preserved in the Bristol dock where it was built.
For the bicentenary of his birth in 2006, the Royal Mint issued two £2 coins. This is the portrait design, showing the engineer himself, while the other shows the roof of Paddington Station. It was the more plentiful of the two, with 7,928,250 struck for circulation. It was also unusual among £2 coins of its time in putting a real person's face on the reverse, something the earlier commemoratives had avoided in favor of symbols, buildings and emblems. Brunel's face in the center of a £2 quickly became one of the most recognizable designs in everyday change.
How to recognize it
Rod Kelly's reverse shows a portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel with two of his engineering achievements, the whole design encircled by a chain. The chain calls to mind the well-known photograph of Brunel posed in front of giant launching chains. TWO POUNDS sits above and the date 2006 below. The edge carries his birth and death years, 1806 and 1859, followed by ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL ENGINEER. Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen is on the obverse, so this coin has a portrait on both sides. With two faces and a chain border, it is the busier of the 2006 pair and easy to tell from the Paddington roof coin.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2006 Brunel Portrait £2 by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 ranks 37th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2007 Act of Union £2 (7.54 million); the next more common is the 2012 Charles Dickens £2 (8.19 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 1.3 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 21 times fewer than this one.
2006 brought 1 other circulating £2 design: the Brunel Achievements (7.45 million). The 2006 Brunel Portrait £2 was the most plentiful of the year.
What to check on your 2006 Brunel Portrait £2
- Read the edge. It should say 1806–1859 ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL ENGINEER. A wrong or missing edge inscription is the quickest 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.
With 7,928,250 struck for circulation, the portrait coin is very common and a face value find. Uncirculated examples bring a small premium. The two Brunel coins together make a popular little set. Brunel's face and the chain links are where wear shows first; if his features are still sharp, the coin has seen little use. Any £2 can be faked, so make sure the edge letters are clean and properly spaced and the center is held firmly by the ring.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2006 |
| Circulation mintage | 7,928,250 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: 1806–1859 ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL ENGINEER |
| Designer | Rod Kelly |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2006 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 Brunel Achievements £2 Coin | 7,452,250 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Who is on the 2006 £2 coin?
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Victorian engineer behind the Great Western Railway, the Great Britain steamship and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Rod Kelly's portrait design marked the bicentenary of his birth in Portsmouth in 1806.
Is the Brunel portrait £2 rare?
No. The Royal Mint struck 7,928,250 for circulation, a little more than the Paddington roof version. Both are common, so worn coins are face value, while uncirculated ones carry only a small premium.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.