2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 Coin
The 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 is a circulating £2 with 4.36 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2016
- Circulation mintage
- 4,355,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- John Bergdahl
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 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 worth?
4.36 million were made, so the 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £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 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 rare?
- No. 4.36 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 coins were made?
- 4,355,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2?
- The design is credited to John Bergdahl.
- What is the 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 made of?
- Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring. It weighs 12.0 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Is the 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every two-metal £2 coin, commemoratives included, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 was made
William Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616. To mark the 400th anniversary in 2016 the Royal Mint issued three £2 coins, one for each of the groups his plays were sorted into when fellow actors gathered them in the First Folio of 1623: comedies, histories and tragedies. All three were designed by John Bergdahl and share the same simple layout, so the central symbol is what tells them apart.
This is the comedy coin. Shakespeare's comedies, from A Midsummer Night's Dream to Twelfth Night, are full of mistaken identities, young lovers and clever fools. The jester's hat stands for those fools, characters like Feste and Touchstone who often see more clearly than anyone else on stage. Their jokes carry some of the sharpest observations in the plays. The comedy coin had a circulation mintage of 4,355,000, the lowest of the three Shakespeare designs but still plenty to keep it common in change. Released the same year as the Army and Great Fire of London coins, it helped make 2016 one of the busiest years ever for £2 designs.
How to recognize it
A jester's hat sits with a jester's stick, the traditional prop of the stage fool. Around it run WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and the date 2016. The edge reads ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE, from the speech by Jaques in As You Like It that walks through the seven ages of man. To tell the three Shakespeare coins apart, look at the center: jester's hat for the comedies, crown and dagger for the histories, skull and rose for the tragedies. The points of the hat are the first details to soften with wear, so compare them if you have more than one. John Bergdahl designed all three.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2 ranks 23rd lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2003 DNA Double Helix £2 (4.3 million); the next more common is the 1989 Bill of Rights £2 (4.39 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 2.3 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 11 times fewer than this one.
2016 brought 4 other circulating £2 designs: the Great Fire of London (1.63 million), the Shakespeare Tragedies (4.62 million), the Shakespeare Histories (5.66 million) and the The Army (9.55 million). 1 of them had a smaller run.
What to check on your 2016 Shakespeare Comedies £2
- Read the edge. It should say ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE. 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 4,355,000 struck, the comedy coin is common and face value in circulated condition. Most interest comes from people building the set of three, which is easy to complete from change with a bit of patience. A matching trio in sharp condition looks good displayed together. The Royal Mint also sold the designs in collector packs. Pack coins are bright with crisp edges on the hat. They are also the easiest way to get three matching examples. Counterfeits aren't a common issue for a coin made in these numbers.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2016 |
| Circulation mintage | 4,355,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: cupronickel center in a nickel-brass outer ring |
| Weight | 12.0 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE |
| Designer | John Bergdahl |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2016 £2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 Shakespeare Histories £2 Coin | 5,655,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Shakespeare Tragedies £2 Coin | 4,615,000 | Face value |
| 2016 The Army £2 Coin | 9,550,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Great Fire of London £2 Coin | 1,625,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
What do the three Shakespeare £2 coins show?
Each stands for a group of plays: a jester's hat and stick for the comedies, a crown pierced by a dagger for the histories and a skull with a rose for the tragedies. All three carry WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and 2016.
Where is the edge quote on the Shakespeare comedies £2 from?
ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE opens the speech by Jaques in As You Like It, which compares a human life to a play in seven acts. It is one of the most quoted passages Shakespeare ever wrote.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.