People are being urged to double check their loose change for a rare £2 coin that features an iconic scene from Ancient Greek myth and legend.
There are quite a lot of “famous” rare UK coins that many people now know to be worth a large sum of money These include the Benjamin Bunny 50p coin, issued in 2017 as part of the Beatrix Potter series, or the Kew Gardens 50p, which had a mintage of 210,000 when it first came out in 2009 and is currently “skyrocketing” in value.
However, fewer people have probably heard of the Cattle of Geryon £2 coin, which was first issued in Gibraltar in 2000. It features a sketch of Geryon – a figure in Greek mythology – on the obverse and the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the reverse, The Mirror reports.
The fabled creature Geryon is a monster associated with the Strait of Gibraltar, and the tenth labor of Hercules – also known as Heracles. In the story, King Eurystheus of Mycenae tasks Hercules with stealing Geryon’s cattle from his island of Erythia.
Geryon was often described as a monster with either three bodies and three heads, or three heads and one body. Either way, he was a formidable foe for Hercules, but he did manage to steal the creature’s precious cattle.
A quick check of eBay show that one of the more recent 2020 versions of the coin listed sold for £54, but others are listed for as much as £299. Only 1,750 of each of these commemorative coins were made, according to UK Coin Hunt.
The Cattle of Geryon coin is part of the Twelve Labours of Hercules series, a set created by the private company PobJoy Mint for the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar in 2020.
Describing the collection, the company said: “The Twelve Labours of Hercules were a series of episodes concerning a penance to be carried out by
, who was one of the greatest of the Greek Heroes.
“The Labours were for Hercules to atone after he slew his family. They were accomplished over 12 years at the service of King Eurystheus. Each coin in the series features one of the Labours.”
However, the 2000 edition of the coin is even more valuable. If you find a Geryon coin from the earlier 2000 minting, it could be worth more than double the price of the 2020 version.
One 2000 Geryon coin is currently on sale for £299 on eBay. The rare coin website Numista gives it a rarity score of 68/100 – impressively high.
So, the next time you pull out your wallet to buy a bottle of juice or other small item, check that £2 coin before you hand it over – and make sure you’re not accidentally paying £299 for your purchase.
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