Rare coin collectors will know just how much certain pennies are worth.
Often the money is sold on eBay where it snaps up for hundreds – or even thousands – more than its face value.
Usually the ones worth a fortune feature a minting error or have less of them in circulation.
The rarest copper coins in circulation are reported to be from a batch of 2p coins that were minted in 1983.
Now the experts at Ocean Finance have looked into the rarest coins out there with four in particular you need to look out for.
So do you have any of these coins hiding away in your change?
2p coin
These coins feature the wording “new pence” on the front 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.
But a batch of 2p coins dated 1983 was accidentally minted with the old wording on.
Now this mistake has made the coin valuable to collectors with some flogging for around £1,700 on eBay.
£2 coin
The £2 coins are made up of two kinds of metal – the silver cupro-nickel disc surrounded by a nickel-brass ring round the outside.
Two metals do mean a greater possibility of errors being made.
In 2017, a collector spotted the £2 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants coin made entirely from nickel-brass which was a mistake.
Around 10,270,000 of these coins were released into circulation, but only a few were made of nickel-brass.
Now experts reckon it’s worth more than £1,000.
Kew Gardens 50p coin
The Kew Gardens coin is certainly a favourite among collectors.
It features the iconic Chinese Pagoda as we’ve seen some sell for over £230 on eBay, 460 times more than its face value.
The Olympics coin collection
When London hosted the Olympics in 2012, the Royal Mint released a series of 50p Olympic-themed coins.
If you were lucky enough to collect all 29, then it could be worth up to £91, according to Coin Hunter.
Some coins are worth more than others, but here are the most valuable ones:
- The football coin where there were 1,125,500 minted. Now, each one is estimated to be worth £15
- The judo coin is worth £9.93. Around 1,161,500 were minted and released into circulation
- The triathlon coin. About 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
What to do if you think your coin is worth loads?
You can always check these things online, then check the Change Checker scarcity index.
The higher up a coin ranks on the index, the harder it is to come by, and more likely a collector would pay loads for it.
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