How rare is my coin? The Complete Change Checker Guide to UK Coin mintages

Have I just found a rare coin? It’s a question which collectors ask daily, and to help answer it, we’ve put together these charts listing each coin in order of its rarity.

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The Northern Ireland 2002 Commonwealth Games is the rarest £2 coin currently in circulation – in fact the four designs in the 2002 Commonwealth Games series occupy the top ten list.  There were only 485,500 Northern Ireland 2002 Commonwealth Games £2 coins minted, that’s just 0.1% of all the £2 coins ever struck!

Others to look out for include the 2015 Navy £2 and the 2015 Britannia £2, both coins have recently been issued into circulation and share joint third place on our graph.

The complete guide to the rarest coins in circulation
Themes have followed a similar pattern over the years with the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom being represented in cycles. The rarest One Pound coin currently in circulation is the Edinburgh £1 which was part of the series depicting the capital cities of the UK.

The Edinburgh design is the only £1 coin with a mintage below 1 million and by way of comparison, over 443 million Royal Arms shield £1 coins were issued in 1983. The 2011 Cardiff £1 and the 2010 London £1 follow closely behind, so all very sought after £1 coins to have.

Another coin to look out for is The Royal Arms £1Although this is a common design which is regularly ignored, make sure to look out for one with a 2008 date – that’s actually the fourth rarest £1 coin.

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The rarest coin in circulation, of any denomination, is the Kew Gardens 50p. the Kew Gardens 50p has been valued at up to £50 on online market place eBay. Its status as the most scarce coin has been well publicised, and as a result, many are hoarded by collectors. This chart illustrates just how rare it is compared with other Fifty Pence designs.

The complete Change Checker jer guide to the rarest coins in circulation

The Olympic Fifty Pence series is very popular with Change Checkers, but in terms of rarity, there really isn’t much separating the top 10 designs. The Football ‘Offside Rule’ 50p was certainly one of the most talked about designs, and it also narrowly ranks as the scarcest.

So, keep hold of your coins. You never know what they might be worth in the future! And remember you can Find, Collect and Swap all your coins for FREE with the Change Checker App: www.changechecker.org

63 Comments

  1. Jo Spoore on November 15, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    Please can anyone advise me….
    I have come across a gold 20p dated 1982 does it have any value ?



  2. Sam Robinson on November 15, 2016 at 11:27 am

    Why is the EEC ’92-’93 Presidency not on the list?



    • Yasmin Britton on November 15, 2016 at 3:44 pm

      Hi Sam, the 1992/3 EEC 50p is no longer in circulation so we have not included it on our graphs. Hope this helps. Thanks, Yasmin



  3. David Shaftoe on November 13, 2016 at 7:48 pm

    I have a Benjamin Britten 50p coin is it worth anything?



  4. Annalise on November 12, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    Are the new 5£ notes (AK33 405047, AJ50 894449) worth anything please get back to me ASAP thnx



    • Yasmin Britton on November 15, 2016 at 8:45 am

      Hello Annalise, as far as we are aware it was just the banknotes with the AA01 prefix, you can see our previous blog here: https://blog.changechecker.org/2016/09/22/check-your-fiver-now-it-could-be-worth-100/ Hope this helps. Thanks, Yasmin



    • Terry McElligott on November 15, 2016 at 12:06 pm

      They are only worth face value Annalise.
      Each of these new prefix number £5 plastic/polymer notes have the same circulating figures. Starting with AA01 000001 (which our Queen owns) up to AA01 999999, same with AA02, AA03 etc etc. There are a million of each prefix so none are rarer than the next on that account. The hype has been caused by the media, so people have been collecting the first issue of the first new style banknote which has an appeal to collectors. You pay what you think it is worth to you on places such as Ebay. My advice if you want one of these would be; it’s the condition of the note that is important. Uncirculated quality holds a premium value over the prefix.



  5. Sarah on November 7, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    I have a old 50p is it Worth Any money



  6. Hannibal on November 4, 2016 at 8:59 am

    I to have a 50 with no face 2016



  7. Trevor gardnet on November 3, 2016 at 12:59 pm

    I have a Gibraltar 1 pound coin with a tree on one side with the queens head with a necklace on on the other was just wondering if it is rare



  8. Suzanne Ackerman on November 1, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    Apart from the obvious flags…
    On the 2002 commonwealth games £2 coins…
    is there any other way of distinguishing between the England coin and the NI coin??
    After being in circulation… the flags are VERY similar ?



  9. robert on November 1, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    when will the 2016 Mintage figures be out ?



    • Yasmin Britton on November 10, 2016 at 9:51 am

      Hi Robert, unfortunately we have no control over the mintage figures and we have to wait until the Royal Mint publish them on their website. I would think that the mintage figures for the 2017 coins will be available this time next year. Hope this helps. Thanks, Yasmin



  10. Peter H Dendy on October 31, 2016 at 12:34 pm

    I found a 1855 Queen Vic half penny. Just a small chip out the top otherwise very good condition.
    I found it with my metal detector in my own garden.



  11. Simon Lee on October 30, 2016 at 2:59 pm

    I have a royal coat of arms 0.10p. It only has half a date on it and some of the lion is missing on the other side. It looks like it hasn’t even been stamped on there (what ever you call it). Also the wording around the outside is slightly thicker when compared to another coin of the same design. Could someone tell me if this is a rare and genuine misprint.



  12. Ronke on October 28, 2016 at 9:01 pm

    I have a 50p that I cannot find on this site, does that mean it’s not a real British 50p?



    • Ryan on October 31, 2016 at 10:54 pm

      Check onthe heads side for a country, Isle of Man, Gibraltar etc all use GBP but unique designs.



  13. Martyn Vaughan on October 28, 2016 at 5:57 pm

    How rare is my penny from 1913 with queen Victoria in her veil?.



    • Terry McElligott on October 31, 2016 at 4:44 pm

      Extremely rare to the point that they do not exist since she died on January 22 1901.



  14. Martyn Vaughan on October 28, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    How rare is my 2013 50p with coat of arms on it?.



  15. Lawrence Smith on October 27, 2016 at 2:36 pm

    I seem to be finding a number of Magna Carta £2 coins. The mintage figures are the same as the Royal Navy. Have the Navy coins been released?



    • Yasmin Britton on October 27, 2016 at 3:35 pm

      Hi Lawrence, the mintage figure for the Magna Carta £2 was 1,495,000. The Navy £2 has a mintage of 650,000. All the 2015 issues have now been released into circulation although the Navy was the most recent release – couple of weeks ago. Hope this helps. Thanks, Yasmin



  16. Chris on October 22, 2016 at 8:05 am

    Royal mint error 2 pound coin 2014 world war 1 with upside down in unreadable righting lookin for a bailie an if ur untreated in buying it



  17. Alan Spicer on October 21, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    Why do you leave out the designs that go on year after year? Just using the £2 coin as the example, the 2005 Technology had a mint age of 3,837,250 and the same design 2009 & 2010 and 2012 (mintage 3,900,000 would all get into your list.



    • Yasmin Britton on October 24, 2016 at 4:35 pm

      Hi Alan, thanks for your message. We don’t really mention the mintage figures of definitive coins unless they do end up being in the top 5 rarest. If we were to mention all the mintage figures of every definite coin the graphs would be never ending.

      We have however mentioned the definitive 2008 Royal Arms £1 in the £1 graph as this coin is the third rarest £1 coin.

      Hope this helps and thanks again for your message.

      Thanks, Yasmin



  18. eugene on October 21, 2016 at 8:29 am

    Hi everyone, my name is eugene and i am from singapore. i was given a 1920, 20 pound gold coin by my late grandad who is of english and german origins. the coins now has got a faded look , just wondering how much this would be worth…..my personal email is [email protected]



  19. Nick Beaumont on October 20, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    This is just incorrect. It ignores many older decimal designs. The rarest 50p by a long shot is the 1992/1992 one, with half the mintage of kew.



  20. David Sheppard on October 18, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    How many of the coins listed are taken out of circlation by the Royal Mint ?



  21. Emma Brandwood on October 18, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    What about the Beatrix Potter coins. My mum has just found a Peter rabbit coin in her purse and I would like to know how much it is.



    • Paul Jacques on October 26, 2016 at 10:21 am

      The Beatrix coins were released in 2016. we’ll know there figures sometime next year



  22. Dieter on October 18, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Many Thanks for that but can we have one for Pre 1997 50p and £2 Coins



  23. Keith Lenton on October 18, 2016 at 9:23 am

    Great information, thank you



  24. Andrew on October 17, 2016 at 11:36 pm

    Woohoo I got the Kew Gardens 50p in my beer change at the weekend!! There still out the people??



  25. K w on October 17, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    you missed out the blue peter 50p



  26. Mark warburton on October 17, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    Why don’t you have the 2008 Brittania 50p in the 50p list? ???



    • Yasmin Britton on October 18, 2016 at 9:38 am

      Hi Mark, we’ll get this added to the graph ASAP.



      • Mike on October 18, 2016 at 10:15 am

        I actually found one in my change yesterday and this was the first place I came to find out about it otherwise I wouldn’t have noticed, luckily I still had the old format picture saved ☺



  27. Jeremy Holloway on October 17, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    Why doesn’t anybody swap coins on here any more?



    • xmaspot on October 18, 2016 at 7:07 pm

      Jeremy, I arranged to swap 2 coins with a member called Rikki Dobinson through change checker swaps. I posted my coins (one a very rare 50p) recorded delivery. I never received coins from Mr Dobinson, in fact I never heard a peep from him again even though I mailed him. Royal mail said they had not been able to deliver. Hence I don’t trust anyone to swap anymore.



  28. Mike on October 17, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    Is there any reason the 2008 Brittania isn’t on the list? It had a mintage of 3,500,000 and it’s circulated ?



    • Yasmin Britton on October 18, 2016 at 9:36 am

      Hi Mike, thanks for spotting that. Will get the graph amended ASAP!



  29. Andy on October 17, 2016 at 6:42 pm

    On Royal Mint’s facebook, they’ve said there will be 650,000 2015 Royal Navy £2 coins going into circulation, so will end up being 3rd/4th rarest. Then 1,495,000 Magna Carta and around 5,000,000 Battle of Hastings 50ps.



  30. Mark on October 17, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    An excellent article. Thank you for taking the time to put it together.



    • Yasmin Britton on October 18, 2016 at 9:35 am

      Thanks for your positive feedback Mark 🙂



  31. Joanne campbell on October 17, 2016 at 6:35 pm

    I have a very thick Normandy landings 50p coin, is this worth anything the date on it is 1994



  32. James on October 17, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    I have the Kew Gardens 50p 😀 Well happy about finding this one out aha



    • Zoe on October 17, 2016 at 11:28 pm

      So lucky!



  33. Christina lewis on October 17, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    I have the football Olympics 50p 4 Peter rabbit 50p and a new £5 with code AA08 and AM58 are they worth anything?



    • Paul W on October 18, 2016 at 3:25 pm

      Yes…..50p, 50p, £5 & £5 ……..they are only worth their face value

      What a collector may pay if they want one is another matter…….however other than the early AA01 polymer notes the rest are really only worth face value……don’t believe the hype



  34. Angus on October 17, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    I’ve got a Christmas 50p with birds on how rare is it



  35. Elizabeth Hunter on October 17, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    Like the format, very interesting thank you x



    • Yasmin Britton on October 17, 2016 at 5:17 pm

      Thanks for your feedback Elizabeth 🙂



  36. Lou Atkinson on October 17, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    Swimming 50p without face is not on the list.



  37. charlesobrien08 on October 17, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    Reblogged this on charlesobrien08 and commented:
    Good to keep a hold of,could stop a “discussion” from being a bit hot!LOL.



  38. christopher guy on October 17, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    I have a 2007 scouts 50p what is its value and how do i get the money for whatever its worth



  39. Martyn Vaughan on October 17, 2016 at 10:46 am

    I have a 2016 50p with the coat of arms on it.Just wondering if it is a rare one?.



  40. Sam Robinson on October 17, 2016 at 10:02 am

    Would also like a list of the earlier £2 and 50p coins.



    • eric on October 17, 2016 at 3:48 pm

      you’re right. I have 50p that is even rarer than kew. it’s called EEA or something like that



      • Paul W on October 18, 2016 at 3:21 pm

        Indeed it is…..it is the 1992 EEC Presidency with a mintage of only 109000 which is just over half that of the Kew gardens…..I have it in BU as well as a silver proof version



    • Terry McElligott on October 17, 2016 at 4:29 pm

      The circulation figures are found on the Royal Mint website.