Scarce: fewer than 2,000,000 minted. Sells often: 62 verified sales in the last 12 months.
2 Pounds - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Olympics Handover (2008)
"Olympic Handover £2"
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 2008 |
| Denomination | 2 Pounds |
| Face value | £2 |
| Mintage | 918,000 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Circulating |
| Composition | Bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring |
| Weight | 12.000g |
| Diameter | 28.4mm |
| Thickness | 2.50mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled: I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Ian Rank-Broadley |
| Rev. artist | The Royal Mint Engraving Team |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
| Tags | commemorative highly-collectable |
Fourth crowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, legend around.
Olympic flag being passed from one hand to another with London 2012 logo below, legend and dates around.
Olympics Handover £2 market value
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AffiliateOlympics Handover £2 price history
Daily limit reachedOlympics Handover £2 value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC | £10.80 🔒 eBay | £10.80 (1) | – | £10.80 – £10.80 | 1 | 1 | 10-07-2026 | |
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| BU | £16.15 🔒 eBay | £18.00 | – | £12.53 – £32.95 | 11 | 11 | 19-09-2026 | |
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| VF | £5.00 🔒 eBay | £7.14 | ▲44.1% | £1.70 – £31.90 | 49 | 51 | 16-10-2026 | |
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| PR-69 | £1,600.00 🔒 | £1,600.00 (1) | – | £1,600.00 – £1,600.00 | 1 | 1 | 20-01-2026 | |
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About the 2008 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Olympics Handover
The 2008 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Olympics Handover is a circulating 2 pounds coin, struck in bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring. It weighs 12g and measures 28.4mm across. Reverse design: Olympic flag being passed from one hand to another with London 2012 logo below, legend and dates around.
918,000 were struck.
Common questions
How much is the 2008 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Olympics Handover worth?
Verified sold prices for the 2008 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Olympics Handover run from £7.14 to £1,600 across 4 grades, taking the median for each grade. Condition makes the difference, so check the grade table above before pricing one.
How many 2008 Olympic Handover £2 coins were made?
The Royal Mint's figures record 918,000 struck for circulation. The other Olympic £2 of 2008, for the centenary of the 1908 London Games, had 910,000, and the 2012 handover coin from London to Rio had 845,000.
Is the 2008 Olympic Handover £2 rare?
It is one of the scarcer £2 coins. The Royal Mint places it ninth in its own list of the rarest £2 coins, and only eight circulating £2 issues in the Mint's mintage figures have a lower total than its 918,000.
Who designed the 2008 Olympic Handover £2?
The Royal Mint's design and specifications page and its shop page credit the Royal Mint Engraving Team. One Royal Mint article names Thomas T. Docherty, who designed the other 2008 Olympic £2, so the Mint's own pages disagree. The obverse portrait is by Ian Rank-Broadley.
What does the edge of the Olympic Handover £2 say?
The milled edge reads I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD in incuse letters. The same edge inscription was used again on the 2012 handover £2 from London to Rio. The wording is fixed by the royal proclamation for the coin.
How do I tell the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Handover £2 coins apart?
The 2008 coin shows the Olympic flag passing between two hands, with BEIJING 2008 LONDON 2012 around it and the London 2012 logo below. The Royal Mint describes the 2012 coin, by Jonathan Olliffe, as a baton passed between two hands with the flags of the UK and Brazil.
How do I identify the 2008 2 Pounds - Elizabeth II – Olympics Handover?
Check the weight 12g and diameter 28.4mm and the metal (bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
At the close of each Olympic Games the Olympic flag is passed to the next host city. This £2 coin marks the handover from Beijing to London in 2008, ahead of the London 2012 Games. The Royal Mint also describes it as commemorating London's successful bid.
The royal proclamation for the coin came into force on 10 July 2008. It made the cupro-nickel and nickel-brass coin current and legal tender throughout the United Kingdom.
The Royal Mint's figures record 918,000 struck for circulation. Only eight circulating £2 issues in the Mint's figures have a lower total, among them the other Olympic £2 of 2008 (910,000) and the 2012 handover coin from London to Rio (845,000). The Mint places this coin ninth in its own list of the rarest £2 coins.
The reverse shows the Olympic flag being passed from one hand to another, encircled by the inscription BEIJING 2008 LONDON 2012, with the London 2012 logo below. The Royal Mint adds that lines reminiscent of a running track circle the central design. Its design and specifications page credits the reverse to the Royal Mint Engraving Team.
The milled edge carries the incuse inscription I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD. The reverse has no denomination, so the words TWO POUNDS appear on the obverse, after the inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG FID DEF, around the fourth portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley.
Varieties and errors
No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.
Edge lettering that appears upside down is not an error. The Royal Mint explains that the edge inscription is rolled onto the blank before the faces are struck, so it can point towards either side, and that there is no right or wrong way.
Collecting notes
With under a million struck, this is a coin to set aside when it turns up. Check Your Change rates it 3 on its scarcity scale, the same as the London Olympic Centenary £2 of the same year, where most commemorative £2 coins of the period are rated 1.
Check that the core is centred, the logo and lettering are sharp and the edge inscription is complete. The design was also struck in silver as a proof and a piedfort. The later 2012 Olympic Handover £2, from London to Rio, shares the edge inscription but has a different reverse and a lower mintage.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- UK coin mintage figures (data file), The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Proclamation determining the specifications and design for two-pound coins celebrating the handover from the Beijing to the London Olympiad in 2008 (London Gazette issue 58761, 10 July 2008, pages 10357 to 10358), The London Gazette (read 9 Oct 2026)
- £2 Coin Designs and Specifications, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 2008 Elizabeth II 'The Olympic Handover Ceremony in Beijing' £2 Coin, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- The Rarest £2 Coins, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 2008 Two Pounds, Check Your Change (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Edge inscription on £2, £1 coins "upside down"?, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
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