Most of us know that every now and again there are limited edition coins issued by the Royal Mint.
They often celebrate occasions - like the Olympics - or anniversaries, for example.
While these are nice collectors' items, they're largely not worth much more than their face value.
But then there are the really sought-after coins - the ones with minting errors.
Ocean Finance has scouted around to find the rarest coins floating around the UK and their estimated value.
The 2p coin from 1983 worth up to £1,700
- The rarest copper coins in circulation are reported to be from a batch of 2p coins that were minted in 1983 and feature a mistake.
- These coins feature the wording “new pence” on their fronts when they should have said “two pence”. “New pence” is old wording that featured on 2p coins between 1971 and 1982 to help people adjust to decimalisation after it came into effect. Someone somewhere didn’t get the memo though, and a batch of 2p coins dated 1983 was accidentally minted with the old wording on.
- This mistake is what makes them valuable to collectors, with some being snapped up on eBay up to £1,700.
An ultra-rare £2 coin worth more than £1,000
- £2 coins are made up of two kinds of metal – the silver cupro-nickel disc in the centre, surrounded by a nickel-brass ring round the outside. Two metals do, however, mean a greater possibility of errors being made, though, as the story of this coin can testify.
- Back in 2017, a keen-eyed collector spotted that the £2 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants coin was made entirely of nickel-brass which, of course, was a mistake.
- 10,270,000 of this coin were released into circulation, however, only a few were made of nickel-brass – which experts believe make the coin worth more than £1,000.
The Kew Gardens 50p coin worth £230
- Featuring the iconic Chinese Pagoda, the Kew Gardens 50p is a must-have for collectors.
- One sold for £230 on eBay in 2020 – 460 times more than its face value.
The Olympics coin collection worth almost £100
- When London hosted the Olympics back in 2012, the Royal Mint released a series of 50p Olympic themed coins, to celebrate the occasion.
- If you were lucky enough to collect all 29, then according to Coin Hunter’s values for each coin, they could be worth up to £91.
- Some coins in the collection are worth more than others, however, some of the most valuable coins include:
- The football coin, of which there were 1,125,500 minted. Now, each one is estimated to be worth £15.
- The judo coin is worth £9.93. 1,161,500 were minted and released into circulation.
- The triathlon coin. 1,163,500 of these were minted, and now each one is worth approximately £11.
- The wrestling coin. There are 1,129,500 of these out there, and each one is worth £7.57 – 15 times their face value
How do minting mistakes happen?
The Royal Mint manufactures millions of coins each day. So, even with strict quality measures in place, it’s not unthinkable that the odd error on a coin makes it out into circulation.
However, it’s important to recognise the difference between an imperfection on a coin, such as where the design isn’t as clearly stamped on the coin as you’d expect, and an error like an incorrect date or the wrong metal being used.
What to do if you think you have a rare, valuable coin
If you get a coin in your change that has a design or an error that you’ve not seen before, a good first step is to look it up online.
The Royal Mint website has information about all the coins they’ve ever produced, whether they were intended for circulation or not, that can help you track down your design. They also offer an authentication service, so you can be sure your coin is genuine.
Then, the Change Checker scarcity index can help you find out if your coin features a rare, collectible design. The higher up a coin ranks on the scarcity index, the harder it is to come by, and the more likely it is that a collector would pay good money for it.
You can check the value by looking at how much other coins like yours have sold online on, for example, eBay. Alternatively, you can take your coin to a coin dealer and ask them to value it for you. Once you know what it’s worth, you can decide what to do with it.
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