CHECK your change for unusual coins as they can be worth much more than they first appear.
Rare designs currently in circulation can sell for hundreds of pounds.
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If you keep hold of a rare piece, you could bag yourself a nice sum of money by putting it up for sale.
Coins are usually rare because they have a lower mintage than others but errors on coins can also make them less common.
Here we round up some of the top rarest coins in circulation in 2024 that have sold for the largest amounts.
If you are lucky enough to find one in your change, make sure you keep hold of it.
2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland, £2
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In 2002, four different designs of the £2 coin were created to commemorate the Commonwealth games.
The Northern Irish version is the rarest with only 485,500 minted.
We’ve spotted the coin selling for as much as £79.97 on eBay in February.
If you can complete the set, you could sell all four coins for £100.
2002 Commonwealth Games England, and Wales, £2
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Other £2 coins in the 2002 Commonwealth series are also relatively valuable.
The second rarest Commonwealth is the Wales version and 588,500 of these were minted.
And the English version saw around 650,500 minted at the time, making the coin rare enough for eBay bidders to pay as much as £35 for it.
The edge of this coin also has the inscription “Spirit of Friendship, Manchester 2002”, which adds appeal to collectors too.
We have seen them sell on eBay for £27.
Out of all of the valuable Commonwealth coins, Scotland is the least rare with a mintage of 771,750
Bidders on eBay have still paid higher than face value for the coin though, with one auction on the site finishing at £12.50
London 2012 Handover, £2
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Aside from the Commonwealth Games coins, it’s worth looking out for the
At the end of each Olympic Games, the next host city of the Games is celebrated with a flag handover ceremony.
In 2012 we gave the flag to Rio to take on the next tournament.
That event was immortalised on the design of a £2 coin, with just 845,000 released into circulation.
We saw one sell for £35 on eBay this month after 10 bids.
Error coins, £1
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The most valuable £1 coins in circulation are those that have errors which make them rare.
Earlier this year, a £1 coin found by a shopkeeper fetched a whopping £1,250 at auction.
The coin had an ultra-rare error – it had accidentally been produced in the wrong metal.
The yellow-coloured £1 was brass, rather than the usual two-tone nickel.
It eventually sold at an auction at Ryedale Auctioneers in Yorkshire on October 18 for a higher than than expected £1,250.
It is not known how many of these error coins are in circulation but if you spot an unusual looking coin, it’s worth keeping hold of it and getting expert advice on how much it could be worth.
King Charles Atlantic Salmon, 50p
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The Atlantic Salmon is the rarest 50p coin in UK circulation.
The coin was one of the first released featuring King Charles’ face, features an engraving of salmon fish jumping out of the Atlantic ocean on the other side.
Just 200,000, 2023 Salmon 50ps entered circulation in November 2023 making it a very rare coin.
The value of the Salmon coin has leapt and, according to Changechecker, the piece is worth around £150 in the secondary market.
Coins have already fetched high bids on eBay, with one coin selling for £164 on October 7.
Another listing currently sits at £185, and yet another is asking for a staggering £500 as demand surges – though there’s no guarantee they will sell for that figure.
Kew Gardens, 50p
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The commemorative Kew Gardens coin, minted in 2009, was created to mark 250 years since the botanical gardens opened in 1759.
Only 210,000 of these coins were created by the Royal Mint, making it one of the rarest pieces out there.
The front of the coin has an image of the late Queen Elizabeth II, with the engraver’s initials, Ian Rank-Broadley, below.
The reverse features a leafy vine wrapped around a Chinese pagoda.
Rare coins tend to be most sought after by coin collectors which will naturally make them more valuable.
In the past these coins have sold for up to £700 on eBay.
Recently, the coin has not fetched quite as much, but if you have one lying around, it can still fetch a hefty sum.
The coin regularly goes for between £150 and £200 on eBay.
If one of these pieces has printing errors it can create more demand.
This year a version of the Kew Gardens coin has sold for £186 on eBay, after the seller revealed their copy had an unusual error.
The Kew Gardens design is one of the most sought after, so it can typically sell for hundreds on the online auction site anyway.
Olympic Football, 50p
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To celebrate the 2012 London Olympic Games, a unique set of 50p coins were issued by The Royal Mint.
One of these was the 2011 Olympic Football ‘offside rule explained’ coin.
The particular piece features a simple diagram which explains the rule.
Designer Neil Wolfson, a sports journalist by trade, chose the image which he felt would encapsulate the sport whilst also provoke discussion.
Around 1.2 million of the Olympic Football 50p’s were put into circulation so you could find one of these lying around in a drawer or pocket.
The coin has a worth 60 times greater than its face value, with the coin selling between £15 and £25 on eBay.
We’ve compiled a full list of the most valuable 50p coins.
Undated coins, 20p
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A manufacturing error by the Royal Mint in 2008 meant that around 250,000 20p coins were printed with a unique error.
This point of difference has now made them popular with coin collectors.
The coins were printed and released into circulation without any date on them at all in 2008.
It was the first time in 300 years that British coins were released into circulation with no date on them.
On previous eBay auctions, the rare 20p piece sold for £72.
Alphabet designs, 10p
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When it comes to 10ps, the rarest and most valuable are the A to Z alphabet collection.
The commemorative coins were created by the Royal Mint in 2018 and re-released in 2019.
The 26-piece set includes one of each letter of the alphabet, exploring a number of themes, from James Bond to cricket.
Up to 304,000 of each A-Z 10p design is in circulation, making them some of the most sought-after out there.
And many collectors are desperate to get hold of the whole set and complete the alphabet.
Some of the designs from this collection are rarer, and therefore more valuable, than others.
The Z coin celebrates James Callaghan’s iconic black and white Zebra crossing, with 283,000 put into circulation overall.
