Specific animal sketch on £2 coin that makes it worth over 100 times MORE – do you have handful lurking in your pocket?

THE VALUE of a £2 coin has skyrocketed by over 100 times due to a specific animal sketch.

When the fourth Commonwealth Youth Games was held on the Isle of Man in 2011, the private coin-maker Popjoy Mint, released a very special £2 coin.

You’d better keep your eyes peeled – or put aside a bit of time for a rummage around your pockets and drawers, as floggers are attempting to sell the Tosha the Cat £2 coin for more than 100 times its worth.

Made on behalf of the Isle of Man Treasury, the coin represents not only the sporting event, but a historic moment for the island itself.

The word “Tosha” stands for the Manx Gaelic word “first”, a nice link to how this was the first time the games were held on the island. 

While no one knows its exact mintage figure, British Isles coins have a reputation for somehow making themselves scarce.

Since the British Isle’s population is naturally smaller than the UK’s, this accounts for why they have lower a mintage and ultimately, are rarer.

Although the coin went into circulation into 2011, it wouldn’t be until 2018 that it became the latest collector’s muse.

Members of Facebook coin groups began hustling the coin and shortly after, eBay bidding wars began.

This led to a surge in price for the coin on the secondary market.

At its peak, the specific sketch even won “Coin of the Year” on Facebook coin groups.

The coin itself features Tosha, the official Commonwealth Youth Games Mascot, along with the official logo of the games.

Shockingly, eBay sellers are still managing to barter the coin for hundreds of pounds, even thousands on rare occasions.

For example, one listing described the coin as being on “sale” for a whopping £2,800.

Another listing offered the coin for a buy it now price of £345, while another seller listed the collectable for £141, plus postage.

Although some of these offers may seem tempting, the coin typically sells for around £12.

Still a profit considering we are talking about a £2 coin.

Be warned, as unsurprisingly there are fake Tosha the Cat £2’s out there and we always advise doing extensive research before making an investment.

Change Checker recommends looking out for these features when spotting a fake:

• Its overly shiny
• The strike is much less defined
• It weighs less than the standard 12g £2 coin

It comes after another savvy seller successfully flogged a rare Olympic Games coin for a whopping £700 on eBay.

In celebration of the 2012 London Olympic Games, a set of 29 decorative 50 pence pieces were issued by The Royal Mint.

The coins also came into circulation in 2011 and each represented a different Olympic sport.

Boxing was one of them and Team GB won a total of three gold medals in the event at London 2012, one of which belongs to Nicola Adams the first-ever female champion.

The coin which sold for hundreds of pounds was the Olympic 50p Boxing Coin.

It features a pair of boxing gloves crossed over each other inside a boxing ring with horizontal lines.

Despite the coin selling for £700, it is certainly not worth that huge amount – you can actually buy it for £3 from the Britannia Coin Company.

You can find out what a coin’s mintage figure is by going on The Royal Mint’s website.