2011 King James Bible £2 Coin
The 2011 King James Bible £2 is a circulating £2 with 975,000 made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2011
- Circulation mintage
- 975,000
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Paul Stafford & Benjamin Wright
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 2011 King James Bible £2 worth?
At 975,000, the 2011 King James Bible £2 has a smaller run than most £2 coins, so collectors pay a small premium for it, especially in uncirculated condition. Well circulated examples sit close to face value.
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 2011 King James Bible £2 rare?
- It is scarcer than most £2 coins. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 2011 King James Bible £2 coins were made?
- 975,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2011 King James Bible £2?
- The design is credited to Paul Stafford & Benjamin Wright.
- What is the 2011 King James Bible £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2011 King James Bible £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 King James Bible £2 was made
The King James Bible, often called the Authorised Version, was first published in 1611. King James, who ruled Scotland as James VI before taking the English throne in 1603, approved a new English translation after a conference of churchmen at Hampton Court in 1604. Teams of scholars spent years on the text. The result shaped the English language as much as religious life. Many phrases still heard in everyday speech reached most English speakers through its pages.
For the 400th anniversary in 2011 the Royal Mint chose a design about printing rather than royalty. The coin celebrates the physical act of putting words on paper, which is how the translation spread across the country and far beyond it. It was struck in small numbers, 975,000 for circulation, which puts it among the scarcer £2 coins of the period. It shares its year with the Mary Rose £2, another low mintage piece, so 2011 is a date worth checking whenever a £2 passes through your hands. Paul Stafford and Benjamin Wright designed it.
How to recognize it
The reverse is built around the words In the beginning was the Word, from John 1:1, set in a copy of the black letter type used in the first edition. On the left the text appears reversed and raised, as it would on a printing block. On the right it reads the normal way, sunk into the surface like a printed page. KING JAMES BIBLE runs above and the dates 1611-2011 sit below. Look at the edge too: it should read THE AUTHORISED VERSION. The mirror image text can look like a mistake at first, but it is exactly how the design was meant to be. The designers were Paul Stafford and Benjamin Wright.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 King James Bible £2 by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2011 King James Bible £2 ranks 10th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2008 Olympic Handover to London £2 (918,000); the next more common is the 2011 Mary Rose £2 (1.04 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 10 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 2.6 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2011 with 1 other circulating £2 design: the Mary Rose (1.04 million). The 2011 King James Bible £2 was the scarcest of the year.
What to check on your 2011 King James Bible £2
- Read the edge. It should say THE AUTHORISED VERSION. 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.
At 975,000 this is one of the lower mintage circulating £2 coins. Collectors pay above face value even for circulated examples. Because it is wanted, it attracts counterfeiters. On a genuine coin the edge reads THE AUTHORISED VERSION, the silver-colored center and gold-colored ring are clearly different metals, the ring holds the center firmly and the black letter text is crisp enough to read. Mushy lettering or a mismatched edge is a warning sign. Uncirculated examples from Royal Mint packs are bright and unmarked, which a coin from change rarely is.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 975,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: THE AUTHORISED VERSION |
| Designer | Paul Stafford & Benjamin Wright |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2011 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 Mary Rose £2 Coin | 1,040,000 | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
How many King James Bible £2 coins are there?
The Royal Mint struck 975,000 for circulation in 2011. That's under a million, low for a £2, so it turns up in change far less often than most commemoratives and collectors happily pay over face value for it.
Why is the writing back to front on the King James Bible £2?
It's deliberate. The left side shows the text reversed and raised, as on a printer's block of metal type, while the right side shows the printed result. The design is about the printing of the Bible in 1611.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.