Your Latest Scarcity Index Update!
How sought-after are your coins? Let’s find out with the latest Scarcity Index update!
We’re delighted to share with you the latest A-Z 10p, 50p and £2 coin indexes, with all the information you need to see how sought-after the coins in your collection really are.
This information has been compiled using data from the Change Checker Swap Centre (find out how it works here) and presented in the easy to use indexes below, with arrows to signify how many places up or down a coin has moved since the last Scarcity Index to help you track the performance of your coins.
A-Z 10p Scarcity Index
We’re now starting to see the A-Z 10p Scarcity Index stabilise as more data is gathered from the Change Checker web app to give a more accurate representation of how sought-after each design is.
K for King Arthur and S for Stonehenge remain at the top of the index and these along with F for Fish and Chips, Y for Yeoman Warder and R for Robin are the top 5 you’ll want to be looking out for.
Are you lucky enough to have any of these in your collection?
The biggest movement on the index is an 11 place drop going to P for Postbox, which is now amongst the 5 least scarce A-Z 10p coins.
V for Villages still remains at the bottom, but I for Ice Cream has jumped up 4 places to move out of the bottom 5 coins.
It’s important to note that the A-Z 10p Scarcity Index is currently based on estimated mintage figures, assuming each coin has been struck in equal quantities. This includes the extra 2.1 million coins released in 2019. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens to the index once the official mintage figures are confirmed.
50p Scarcity Index
We all know that the Kew Gardens is the UK’s most sought-after 50p and unless it’s revealed that another 50p has an even lower mintage figure, this won’t change and we’ll continue to see the Kew Gardens at the top of the 50p Scarcity Index.
There’s been some small movements amongst the Olympic 50ps which dominate the top end of the index, with some of the coins moving a few places here and there and the Gymnastics 50p actually increasing in scarcity by 5 places.
The scarcest of the non-Olympic commemorative 50ps is Jemima Puddle-Duck, who’s position remains unchanged for this update.
Despite having a lower mintage figure, the 2017 Sir Isaac Newton sits one position below Jemima Puddle-Duck on the index, making these two and the Kew Gardens the only three coins to break up the Olympic 50ps.
Volleyball has actually moved down the index by 7 places, making it the second least scarce Olympic 50p.
Team GB rose up the index by 9 places at the last index, but has now moved back down 11 places to sit in the bottom 5 least scarce 50p coins in circulation.
£2 Scarcity Index
As with the Kew Gardens 50p, the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland continues to sit at the top of the index due to its incredibly low mintage figure.
The other Commonwealth Games £2 coins have had a small shuffle around, with Scotland taking the spot for second scarcest £2 in circulation.
The rest of the £2 index has only seen minor changes, which is to be expected as we haven’t seen new £2’s entering circulation since 2017.
However, one change to note is the Great Fire of London, which has moved 4 places up the index.
This is actually due to the updated mintage figures which reveal that whilst the coin was previously listed with a mintage of 5,135,000 there are actually only 1,625,000 of these coins in circulation. We’ve updated our mintage figure charts to reflect this, as well as the changes to the 2016 Peter Rabbit 50p, Shakespeare Histories and Shakespeare Tragedies £2 mintage figures.
How your Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have had to rely upon mintage figures to identify the scarcest coins. But they only tell part of the story. Trying to find a good quality coin from 15 – 20 years ago, even for a higher mintage issue, is much more challenging than a more recent issue, as coins become damaged over time and are ultimately removed from circulation.
Additionally, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – the poignant First World War £2 Coin series being an example. Finally, it can be up to a couple of years before the Royal Mint eventually confirms the actual mintage for an issue.
That’s why we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information.
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Importantly, as new coins are released and popularity rises and falls across different designs the Scarcity Index will be updated quarterly allowing Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index does not necessarily equate to value but it is certainly an effective indicator. For example, the Kew Gardens 50p coin commands a premium of up to 200 times face value on eBay.
You can use the 6 point guide to help you determine a more realistic value for your coins.
What about £1 Coins?
The £1 Scarcity Index has already been published for the Round £1 coins and, because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone.
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app
Why are there no 50p Paddington bear coins shown in the rarity list.
Grateful for a reply.
Hi Peter, unfortunately we don’t have the mintage figures for any of the 2018 coins yet, so none of them feature on the Scarcity Index. Thanks, Rachel
Hi Rachel
Useful (as always). For A-Z 10p it’s all we have !
Any news if or when the RM will release mintages for each letter ?
Thanks David
Hi David, it would be really interesting to find out exactly how many of each letter were released, but we don’t know yet if/when this information will be provided.
Hi if the HMS Belfast 5th portrait is minted at 650,000 , im wondering what the 4th portrait HMS belfast is minted at ?
any ideas ?
Hi Chris, only the 5th portrait was released into general circulation, but 100 of the 4th portrait version were put in the tills of the gift shop on the HMS Belfast, so you would have to be incredibly lucky to find one of these.
you can buy the 4th portrait bunc HMS Belfast irb on your site so there are more than the 100 put out in the tills, or am I mistaken ?
Hi Chris, the 100 put into tills are classed as circulation coins, however the ones for sale are brilliant uncirculated. The Scarcity Index only takes into account the circulating mintage figure for each coin. Thanks, Rachel
There are still coins out there…yesterday had in my change from parking machine, the Rugby world cup 2pound coin, a new 2019 pound coin.
Last week a friend got the 50p Jemima puddle duck in their change and I got the 1918 people act 50p last week in my change….so put the debit card away and use notes for the change.
Those are some great finds! You’re very lucky Howard!
you list the technology coin as 1 some are probably 20 ? maybe an up to date mintage table? on known facts for 50p / £2
BEEN IN N W Scotland 2 WEEKS and a lot of the coins 5P 10P 20P 50P are 2016- 2019 and almost BUNC!!!!
Hi Stuart, unfortunately we only list the definitive coins by design and denomination, not date, so whilst we have the mintage figures for individual years, we don’t have the sufficient swap centre data to be able to include each individual year in the scarcity index.
Ha..i would like to know where all the 10p coins are ??
Seen two in my area.
How do they get circulated (or not in my case)
Very disappointing.
They are really hard to find! We put together a video with all the details here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GapKLYmmNSQ
Hi. The A-Z 10p’s are being hoarded by dealers with access to supply. “One” on a coin site had NINE FULL SETS for sale. This is happening to 2018 and 2019 issues. To find a set in change is/will be impossible, so buying them at £1 each from sites is the only way to obtain a complete set.
All on eBay my daughter got some from post office then had to complete it from buying the rest off eBay
Hi there I have asked several people at work and even at the bank and no one I have asked has seen or found a single 10p alphabet coin I don’t know where they all are . I even done a coin run ordered £100 of 10p coins eagerly searched through the 1000 coins from sealed bags and didn’t find a single one !!! Other than e bay they are rarer than hens teeth .
They are really tricky to find. Whilst I see them every day at work, I’m yet to find one in my change yet either! Hopefully we’ll start to see more of them appearing soon and as more people find duplicates they should hopefully start to swap more too.
The sad thing about modern day coin collecting is that there is a number of ” sources” that get supplied coins from the Royal Mint … They sell them at up to 40x their face value and on top of that is postage so if you wanted say 5 coins [ 10p? ] they could cost £22.50 for 50p face value. this sets the trend for peeps that bags they want to “cash in on their bag/s” and the yardstick is the prices set by the dealers ….
I had quite a few acquaintances that saved coins, at Christmas there was 7 of us around a friends table comparing what we had from the previous year about 120 coins all denominations, a quick run through my head more than 14 of us used to collect, we used to have a mini swap over a pint on a Thursday now we have a pint and their interest not only in 10p but 50p and £2 is no more… these are mostly much younger 35 years old + basically the reasoning was you cant collect anymore because there isn’t any to collect the dealers or internet have them …. they have inflated the price beyond the reach of the majority of collectors …. I myself am TURNING to pre decimal coins you can get a silver halfcrown for 30 or so times it value even many 100’s of times its face value but they are really rare coins …. £40 – £60 today for a bag of coins [10p 50p all the same] … or £40 for 6 to 10 pre 1946 half crowns .. scrap value around up to £2! …… uum which is more worth it?
Hi Stuart, I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling to collect coins from your change. Have you considered swapping to help build your collection? The Change Checker web app and Change Checker Community Facebook group are great ways to swap coins with other collectors. We also have the Face Value Coin Ballot with gives you the chance to own the latest UK 50p and £2 coin issues for face value, even if they don’t end up entering circulation: http://www.facevaluecoinballot.com
Thank you for this information, it also acts as a good indicator of how likely we are to find certain coins for our collection I’m sure there are many people like myself who need that one elusive coin to complete their set but I love the thrill of the hunt???
I HAVE EVERY ONE OF THE £1 COINS INCLUDING EVERY OPPOSITE EDGE INSCRIPTION
MAKING IT 88 OLD £1 COINS, PLUS 4 OF THE NEW £1 WHICH DO NOT HAVE AN EDGE INSCRIPTION ( THANK GOD ), THAT MAKES 92 TO DATE.
IF YOU ANT TO KNOW HOW MAY 50p COINS OR £2 COINS THEN JUST ASK.
LES.
is the A -Z 2019 or 2018 or both? will there be a table for 2018 and one for 2019
Hi Stuart, the information for the A-Z 10ps is using the combined mintage figures for 2018 and 2019 coins. As they are not listed separately on the web app we cannot say whether 2018 or 2019 coins of the same design are more sought-after. Thanks, Rachel
what about the 2017 shield ? not showing in 50p index ??
We only list the definitive coins by design and denomination, not year, so the data for the Royal Shield will have combined mintage figures.
collectors have had to wait almost 35 years for a low mintage 50p definitive below 2 million circulated
and at 1.8 million the 2017 shield 50p appeared, so it may be a long time before we see another this low