• The Royal Mint has launched a collectable £2 coin to mark the 100^th anniversary of Flying Scotsman.
• The Royal Mint’s talented design team combined traditional engraving and minting techniques with innovative technology to create the £2 coin featuring the world’s most famous locomotive.
• The Flying Scotsman £2 coin will feature a design in vivid colour – the first time for colour to appear on a £2 coin in over 20 years.

The Royal Mint, official maker of UK coins, has today launched a collectable £2 coin to mark Flying Scotsman’s centenary in collaboration with the National Railway Museum, part of the Science Museum Group. The £2 collectable coin will feature the world’s most famous steam locomotive in vivid colour – a rarity on £2 coins, with the last coloured £2 coin released over 20 years ago*.

This Flying Scotsman £2 coin features a thoughtfully crafted reverse design by the experienced coinage artist John Bergdahl. Featuring the inscription ‘LNER.’ followed by ‘4472’, Flying Scotsman’s second service number, as well as the date of the locomotive’s special anniversary, the design captures a side-on view of the famous locomotive as it steams ahead on one of its many rail journeys. The edge inscription reads ‘LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY’ in a fitting tribute to an engine that continues to be admired 100 years since its journey began.

To capture the essence and familiarity of the Flying Scotsman, The Royal Mint’s design team worked closely with experienced coin designer John Bergdahl. Combining traditional engraving and minting techniques with innovative technology, Royal Mint Engraver, Kerry Davies, ensured John’s original design, which was created on a plaster model, was translated appropriately to appear on the £2 coin. This was completed by using optical scanners to convert John’s design from a 25cm diameter plaster model to a 3D digital file. Following this process, Royal Mint Engraver Kerry was then able to refine and delicately translate the design to feature onto a £2 coin, 28.40mm in size, without losing any of the detail or fineness of John’s design.

Ffion Gwillim, in The Royal Mint’s design team, meticulously ensured the colouring that appears on the coin is inspired by Flying Scotsman’s iconic LNER Locomotive Green livery also known as Apple Green. Working closely with the curatorial team at the National Railway Museum, The Royal Mint’s design team based the green on several images of the locomotive over the years. Using innovative colour printing technology, the team were then able to replicate this exact colour to appear on the Flying Scotsman £2 coin – bringing the locomotive’s characteristics to life.

Rebecca Morgan, Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint said, “Flying Scotsman is a wonderful example of British craftsmanship, design and engineering, which led to the creation of one of the world’s most famous locomotives. While The Royal Mint’s expertise and craftsmanship is closely linked with precious metals, it was important for us to highlight the skill and engineering behind the locomotive as part of the coin’s design to mark its milestone centenary. Our talented team of craftspeople have captured the locomotive’s characteristics in fine detail, with the colour edition of the coin bringing the locomotive to life. It is rare for colour to feature on a £2 coin, so we anticipate this one to be extremely popular with not only railway enthusiasts but also coin collectors across the world.”

Judith McNicol, Director of the National Railway Museum, said: “Flying Scotsman’s centenary is an opportunity for people to come together to celebrate and share their memories of this special locomotive. The National Railway Museum has organised a programme of events and activities to mark the centenary and featuring on the new coin is a real honour and a wonderful way to mark the occasion.”

Originally designed by Nigel Gresley, Flying Scotsman was built in Doncaster in 1923. Currently the oldest main line working locomotive on the United Kingdom’s tracks, the Flying Scotsman has a rich history spanning over 100 years. Synonymous with the golden age of rail travel, the locomotive is renowned as a feat of design and engineering. Earning its name from the daily 10am London to Edinburgh rail service, the Flying Scotsman’s 100-year journey has seen it break railway records, gain worldwide fame and become an enduring symbol of the great age of steam. Flying Scotsman is now a star attraction in the collection of the National Railway Museum (part of the Science Museum Group) in York, where it is a working museum exhibit. 

The coin celebrating Flying Scotsman has been created in partnership with the National Railway Museum . The Flying Scotsman £2 coin will be available to purchase from The Royal Mint’s website from 9am 23^rd February.

 

ENDS

Notes for editors

*The last commemorative £2 coin featuring colour was the 2002 Commonwealth Games coins for Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England.

The Centenary of Flying Scotsman UK £2 coin Specifications

Coin title	The Centenary of Flying Scotsman 2023 UK £2 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin	The Centenary of Flying Scotsman 2023 UK £2 Brilliant Uncirculated Colour Coin	The Centenary of Flying Scotsman 2023 UK £2 Silver Proof Colour Coin	The Centenary of Flying Scotsman 2023 UK £2 Silver Proof Piedfort Colour Coin	The Centenary of Flying Scotsman 2023 UK £2 Gold Proof Coin
Denomination	£2	£2	£2	£2	£2
Issuing Authority	UK	UK	UK	UK	UK
Alloy	Inner Alloy: Cupro-nickel Outer Alloy: Nickel-brass	Inner Alloy: Cupro-nickel Outer Alloy: Nickel-brass	Inner Alloy: 925 Ag Outer Alloy: 925 Ag plated with fine gold	Inner Alloy: 925 Ag Outer Alloy: 925 Ag plated with fine gold	Inner Alloy: 916.7 Au yellow gold Outer Alloy: 916.7 Au red gold
Weight	12.00g	12.00g	12.00g	24.00g	15.98g
Diameter	28.40mm	28.40mm	28.40mm	28.40mm	28.40mm
Obverse Designer	Martin Jennings	Martin Jennings	Martin Jennings	Martin Jennings	Martin Jennings
Reverse Designer	John Bergdahl	John Bergdahl & Ffion Gwillim	John Bergdahl & Ffion Gwillim	John Bergdahl & Ffion Gwillim	John Bergdahl
Features	-	Colour	Colour	Colour	-
Edge Inscription	LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY	LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY	LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY	LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY	LIVE FOR THE JOURNEY
Quality	Brilliant Uncirculated	Brilliant Uncirculated	Proof	Proof	Proof
Limited Edition Presentation	Unlimited	15,000	4472	1923	300
RRP	£12.00	£21.00	£85.00	£135.00	£1,225.00

 

About

The Royal Mint

With a history spanning more than 1,100 years, The Royal Mint is Britain’s oldest company and the original maker of UK coins.  Today The Royal Mint is a premium British maker, providing carefully crafted coins and precious metal products for the UK and overseas.  Based in Llantrisant, South Wales it has three main focuses as a business: Currency, Consumer (collectable and rare, historic coins) and precious metals investment.

Collecting with The Royal Mint:

Every coin tells a story, from a rare gold Sovereign to a Peter Rabbit™ 50p coin. The Royal Mint aims to inspire collectors young and old and nurture a love of collecting through unique designs and popular themes. As the maker of UK coinage we have unparalleled knowledge about coins, from the historic coins of our past, through to the collectable commemorative coins of today.  Sourcing and authenticating pre decimal coins is a natural fit for The Royal Mint as we struck each one.

Investing with The Royal Mint:

As a world authority on precious metals, The Royal Mint has traded and made products in gold and silver for centuries. Since launching its designated precious metals investment arm six years ago, The Royal Mint has grown rapidly to become the home of gold in the UK – increasing its market share and becoming the largest producer of bullion coins in Britain. As well as offering physical precious metal investment options in the form of bars and coins, The Royal Mint also offers a range of digital investment options including DigiGold, Little Treasures, designed for children, and Gold for Pensions

Celebrating with The Royal Mint:

For over a thousand years The Royal Mint has marked the moments that changed the world on coins - from coronations to conflict, from commemorations to celebrations. The designs are captured on commemorative coins, minted in a range of metals.  Commemorative coins do not always enter circulation but give collectors the chance to purchase coins to keep and cherish.  Recent themes have included David Bowie, Winnie the Pooh, Decimalisation and Team GB. Each commemorative coin is carefully struck up to three times in order to create a superbly detailed finish and ensuring each one meets the standards The Royal Mint is famous for. 

The Royal Mint Experience

The Royal Mint opened its popular visitor centre, The Royal Mint Experience, at its home in Llantrisant, South Wales in 2016. Since opening the award-winning attraction has welcomed around 400,000 visitors through its doors and is the place to explore the 1,100-year history of coins.

Images

The Royal Mint retains copyright ownership © of all images. These may only be used for editorial purposes and cannot be sold or used for other marketing purposes without the permission of The Royal Mint.

Flying Scotsman

Flying Scotsman was built in Doncaster in February 1923, as an A1 class locomotive for the newly formed LNER and converted to an A3 class in 1947. 

It was the first locomotive of the newly formed LNER (London and North Eastern Railway). Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and numbered 1472, the locomotive was not named ‘Flying Scotsman’ until the following year when it was picked to attend the British Empire Exhibition in London and renumbered 4472. The locomotive went on to operate in service until 1963 and later in preservation, which included tours of the USA, Canada and Australia, where it captured the hearts of millions. 

Today the locomotive is owned by the National Railway Museum in York and is operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd, based in Heywood, Greater Manchester. To find out more about Flying Scotsman and to hear more about centenary plans as they are announced, visit www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/flying-scotsman.

Key facts

• Built in 1923 at Doncaster Works, costing £7,944
• Weight: 97 tonnes
• Length: 70ft
• Officially the first steam locomotive to reach 100mph, and the first to circumnavigate the globe
• Holds the world record for a non-stop run in a steam locomotive, set in 1989 with a 422-mile trip

The National Railway Museum in York has the largest collection of railway objects in the world and prior to the pandemic, attracted more than 750,000 visitors per year. The collection includes over 260 locomotives and rolling stock as well as coins, medals, railway uniform and equipment, documents, artwork and photographs.

The National Railway Museum forms part of the Science Museum Group, along with the Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford and Locomotion in Shildon. For more information, visit: www.railwaymuseum.org.uk