Yahoo Finance Rare $2 coins selling for $1,500 has thousands of Aussies lining up
People sat on camp chairs or milk crates in the mint car park to get their hands on the rare coin set.
A new set of rare $2 coins, which have soared in value, are being released to the public today and the Royal Australian Mint is already being inundated by would-be collectors who queued up overnight to get their hands on them.
It’s been 35 years since the $2 coin was released in 1988 and to “honour the significant milestone”, a 14-coin collection showcasing colourful commemorative designs is being released. People started lining up outside the mint in Canberra at 3.30pm yesterday. Coin expert Matt Thompson told Yahoo Finance why demand was “already through the roof” for the $239 set.
A similar 12-coin set released in 2018 for $75 is now “consistently selling for over $800”, Thompson said.
“Now, they are selling them with two extra coins and people are going bananas for it. The mint are run off their feet,” he said.
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There are more than 2,000 people queuing up today, with just 35,000 available. An avid collector said the queue was more than 200 metres at 3.00am. Videos showed people camping overnight in sleeping bags, on camping chairs or milk crates. But the wait could be worth it. The new collection has already popped up on eBay for $1200.
“It’s out of control, what’s happening at the moment,” Thompson said.
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The Mint stopped selling high-demand coins through its online store after it repeatedly crashed as people flocked to it. People can only buy the set over the phone, at the mint or authorised distributors. But the phone lines are consistently unavailable, causing frustration and sparking a new change.
“For everyone getting a disconnected message and thinking that the phones are switched off - they’re not, they are just overloaded. This is the same message many people got when calling for other releases,” one woman said.
The same thing happened on November 23 when a new 50 cent coin commemorating the late Queen Elizabeth II was released, an uncirculated version for $15 and a silver proof edition for $135.
What 14 coins feature in the rare $2 collection?
All of the following are 2023 uncirculated $2 coins. These are the designs.
2012 Remembrance Day Design
2012 Remembrance Day Design
2014 Remembrance Day Design
2015 Lest we Forget Design
2015 Remembrance Day Design
2017 Lest we Forget Design
2017 Remembrance Day Design
2018 Lest we Forget Design
2018 Invictus Games Design
2020 Firefighters Design
2021 Indigenous Services Design
2021 Ambulance Services Design
2022 Frontline Workers Design
2022 Honey Bee Design
Take a closer look at the official website here.
The Honey Bee has been twice internationally recognised, with the colourful motif a departure from the predominantly war related theme of special releases.
