CHANGE in your pocket could be worth hundreds of pounds if it turns out to be a rare coin.
The most valuable 10p, 50p and £2 coins have been revealed with some hard to find coins worth much more than their face value.
According to the latest ChangeChecker scarcity index, which tracks the most sought after coins in circulation, the last three months has seen some big jumps.
The index is based on how many of each design are listed as “collected” by ChangeChecker users and the number of times they've been requested as a swap.
It’s worth noting that some collectors also value the mintage of coins, meaning how many have been made, but this is something the index doesn't take into account.
Remember too that coins are only ever worth what someone is willing to pay for them, so you aren’t guaranteed these prices.
You may find that coins that are lower in the index sell for more than those higher up.
If a collector needs one last coin to complete their line-up they might be willing to pay more than it usually goes for.
If you come across an unusual coin in your spare change, it's worth checking if it could be worth something.
Here are the top coins that are in demand at the moment – and what to do if you find one.
The rarest 10p coin – worth up to £8
Celebrating all things to do with the internet, this W for World Wide Web 10p features a spiderweb design.
Previously it was the third in the list of sought after 10p coins, and the Y for Yeoman Warder was top. That's now in the third spot on the list and in second place is the R for Robin 10p.
The W for World Wide Web 10p could fetch you much more than its face value – a 2019 one that was uncirculated recently sold for £8 on eBay.
We have seen this go for more and back in May one sold for £14.50 on the marketplace.
The R for Robin 10p also went for a similar price, as did the Y for Yeoman coin.
The World Wide Web coin is the 10p with the lowest mintage and just 63,000 were made.
The rarest 50p coins – worth up to £337
The Kew Gardens 50p coin is still the most sought after among collectors, according to the index.
The coin can go for much more than its 50p face value and a recent listing on ebay shows someone bought it for £337.
It's not clear if the coin has been circulated or not, but says it comes in sealed packaging.
The 50p coin features the Chinese Pagoda at the famous London landmark and is one of the rarest coins out there because there’s so few of them.
The Royal Mint has confirmed it is the rarest in circulation – only 210,000 were ever released making them pretty hard to come by.
In comparison, the second rarest 50p coins are the 2018 Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny designs and 1.4million of each them were put into circulation.
The second scarcest coin is an Olympic one featuring the triathlon and shows athletes doing the three sports which form the triathlon – swimming, cycling and running.
Third in the list is the Olympic football design 50p which features an explanation of the offside rule.
A pair of Olympic coins – triathlon and football – recently sold on ebay for £30, and appear to have been circulated as they have some marks on.
Only 1,163,500 Olympic coins were put into circulation in 2011 to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The rarest £2 coins – worth up to £60
There are 37 different £2 coin designs currently in circulation, but it's the ones commemorating when Manchester hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2002 that you need to look out for.
In particular, you keep an eye out for the Northern Ireland design, which has once again taken the top spot as the most sought after £2 coin.
One of these coins recently sold for £60 on ebay.
The second most valuable £2 coin is the England version of the same design which fetches up to £29.13 online if it's been in circulation.
Third placed on the index for scarce £2 coins is the Scotland version of the Commonwealth coin
Scarcity index for 10p, 50p and £2
CHANGECHECKER’s scarcity index ranks the coins between 1 and 100 to indicate how hard they are to find and how in demand they are.
The higher the number the more scarce they are and more likely to be more valuable. Here are the top 10 for each coin according to the latest ranking.
10p
- W for World Wide Web (100)
- R for Robin (93)
- Y for Yeoman (87)
- Z for Zebra Crossing (84)
- Q for Queue (7)
- M for Mackintosh (4)
- N for NHS (3)
- U for Union Jack (3)
- A for Angel of the North (2)
- F for Fish and Chips (2)
50p
- Kew Gardens (100)
- Triathlon (90)
- Football (86)
- Wrestling (86)
- Judo (82)
- Goalball (60)
- Tennis (57)
- Gymnastics (54)
- Sailing (54)
- Table Tennis (54)
£2
- Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland (100)
- Commonwealth Games England (82)
- Commonwealth Games Scotland (71)
- Olympic handover (71)
- London 2012 handover (67)
- 2015 First World War Navy (66)
- Commonwealth Games Wales (56)
- Olympic Centenary (55)
- King James Bible (46)
- London Underground Roundel (43)
What makes a coin more valuable?
Generally, collectors look at the mintage figures of a coin to assess its value.
Rather than just basing a coin's value on the rarity, Changechecker.org looks at two other key pieces of information.
This includes how many of each coin are listed as "collected" by members of the site, which indicates the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
The experts also track the number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous three months, showing the current level of collector demand.
While the index doesn't necessarily correspond to value, it is an effective indicator.
How do I find out what my coin is worth?
If you're lucky enough to pick up a rare coin in your spare change, it could go for hundreds of pounds depending on how rare it is.
You should check how much the coin is selling for on eBay.
Search the full name of the coin, select the "sold" listing and then toggle the search to "highest value".
It will give you an idea of the amount of money that the coin is going for.
You can either choose to sell the coin on eBay or through a specialist such as ChangeChecker.org.
You can also use an online tool that gives you an estimate of how much it could be worth on eBay, as well as any other rare coins you have.
Coin Hunter gives you an estimated valuation of your coin based on the average of the most recent sales, as well as a range of how much you can expect it to fetch.
What do I do if I have a rare coin?
Firstly you need to make sure the coin is legit and not counterfeit.
Around one in every four old £1 coins were thought to be fake, according to The Royal Mint, so there are probably more fakers in your spare change then you realise.
The Royal Mint is unable to value a coin but it can confirm whether it is real or not. They will usually supply you with a letter to confirm this.
Once you’ve found out whether the coin is real or not, you have a number of options – either selling it through a coin dealer, at auction or on eBay.
You can look at eBay's recent sold prices to get an indicator of how much your coin usually goes for on the site.
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