Rare £2 coin with ‘fried egg’ error sells for £134 after bidding war

A seemingly ordinary £2 coin has sparked a bidding war after a rare minting error helped it sell for more than 67 times its face value.

The 2015 coin, featuring Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the Standing on the Shoulders of Giants design on the reverse, changed hands for £134.08 last month after attracting 19 bids.

It had started at just £3.95, but the unusual error sent the final price soaring.

Known among collectors as a ‘fried egg’ error, the fault can occur on bi-metallic coins such as the UK’s £1 and £2 pieces.

It gets its unusual name from the appearance of the coin, where the silver-coloured inner section appears to spill or spread beyond the centre of the design.

The effect can resemble the yolk of a fried egg, making these coins particularly interesting to collectors looking for unusual minting mistakes.

The eBay listing for the 2015 £2 coin described it as a “2015 UK Two Pound Fried Egg Error Circulated Coin”, adding: “Condition and error shown in photos. Used condition.”

After bidding opened at £3.95, interest steadily grew before one collector eventually secured the coin for £134.08 on July 23.

That means the successful bidder paid more than 67 times the coin's £2 face value for the unusual piece.

The sale is likely to have plenty of people taking a closer look at the £2 coins lurking in their purses, wallets and jars of loose change in the hope of finding a similar error.

The £2 coin has been in circulation since 1998 and was the first bi-metallic coin minted in the UK.

Its distinctive two-tone appearance, combining a silver-coloured inner section with a contrasting outer ring, has since made it one of the most recognisable coins in British change.

There have been numerous designs and variations over the years, including the 2015 coin featuring the Standing on the Shoulders of Giants design.

The obverse has also changed since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with King Charles III appearing on the latest coins.

His first UK coin portrait was designed by sculptor and designer Martin Jennings.

The reverse of the current £2 coin features the flowers representing the four nations of the UK, with a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock alongside interconnecting letter ‘C’s representing King Charles III.

While most £2 coins will be worth exactly what they say on the tin, unusual errors can sometimes attract considerably more interest from collectors.

For anyone checking their change, the ‘fried egg’ effect is therefore one unusual feature worth looking out for.