| St. James's Auctions Ltd > Auction 111 | Auction date: 1 November 2025 |
| Lot number: 101 Price realized: 160 GBP (Approx. 210 USD / 182 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Elizabeth II, Euro Trials, Royal Mint experimental coinage, Pattern for a 'bronze' 2-cents, c. 1995-1999, in copper-plated steel, United Kingdom arms, crowned, Tower and rose to either side, ROYAL MINT in scroll beneath, rev. as obverse, 18.5mm. (cf Spink Auction, 6 January 2022, lots 9143-45), in modern encapsulation, virtually as struck, extremely rare The encapsulation prevents the cataloguers from seeing the edge which Spink described as "central groove around a plain edge". The Spink catalogue reproduced details received from Chris Barker of the Royal Mint Museum and we reproduce it here with their kind permission. "Following the Economic Union timetable set out by the Maastricht Treaty [7 February 1992], the Royal Mint was involved in a working group of European Mints tasked with examining the practicalities of delivering a single European Currency. As seen with the previous lot, the first permutation of this came with the Ecu or 'European Currency Unit', however following suggestion from German Finance Minister Theo Waigel, the Euro was adopted in December 1995 and a date of 1 January 1999 set for the new pan-European units release. Barker continues: One of the chief considerations to be examined with the specifications that would be adopted for any new currency and as part of the experiments conducted into this by the Royal Mint produced. Estimate: 200 - 250 GBP |  |
