A rare coin minted to celebrate one of Oasis’ iconic albums could be worth a lot more than its value in currency.
The band has made headlines after the cost of tickets for their 2025 reunion tour skyrocketed ‘dynamic pricing’. It sparked outrage amongst loyal fans who had waited 15 years for the moment. However, if you’re the lucky owner of a specific piece of historic Oasis memorabilia, you would have had enough cash to cover your concert expenses burning a hole in your pocket.
That object is a special £2 coin, released in 2000 to mark the launch of the Gallagher brothers’ fourth studio album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants.
Coin connoisseurs will be aware that the phrase ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ is etched around the edge of standard £2 coins. In this case, the word ‘shoulders’ is plural, alluding to one of Isaac Newton’s most renowned quotes from his 1675 letter to Robert Hooke.
In it, he penned: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”
Noel Gallagher previously revealed he had spotted the phrase on a £2 coin in a pub and hastily jotted it down on a cigarette packet. Despite missing out an ‘S’, the name stuck and the album shot to number one upon its release in February 2000, selling over 300,000 copies in its first week.
However, the Oasis coin is much rarer – only 200 were ever minted. It features the band’s five members at the time – Noel, his younger brother Liam, Andy Bell, Gem Archer and Alan White, while the reverse displays the band’s logo alongside the year the limited-edition coin was minted.
The rare piece is highly sought after among collectors and seldom appears at auction nearly 25 years later. One such coin, which seems to have made its way to the US over the years, was recently listed on eBay for $360 (£274 approx.).
Online record store EIL, which has previously sold the coin, described it in the product’s listing as: “Super rare 2000 UK promotional-only ‘£2 coin’ with bronze centre stamped ‘OASIS 2000’ on one side and a group silhouette on the other, and the album title engraved into the silver perimeter surround – housed inside its original circular protective display case, this example even retains the original zip-loc style clear outer bag! Only 200 examples of this unusual collectable were minted.”
An X user boasting ownership of the coin exclaimed: “My band, Bliss 66 was signed to Epic in 2000… I definitely (not maybe) have one of these.” Meanwhile, another enthusiast jubilantly shared: “The Oasis £2 coin. Always wanted it and found one few years back.”