WINNERS of the 2018 Change Checker Awards announced!

 

In November we opened the 2018 Change Checker Awards to celebrate the very best people in the world of change collecting, and I must say that it’s been incredible to hear all of your stories from the last year.

In fact, it’s been a really tough job deciding on the winners, but with thanks to our panel of judges from the Change Checker team and Coin Collector magazine, our well deserved winners have now been selected…

Checker Checker of the Year

Winner:

Chris Goodman

Chris was nominated by his girlfriend, Chloe who has learnt so much about coins because of him. His passion for coins has grown since he was a child, spending hours in antique shops looking at all the old coins. When it comes to his own collection, Chris is very particular about keeping everything in order, which is why he uses his Change Checker album to store his proudest belongings – coins.

As he carefully researches every coin he owns, Chris takes great pleasure and satisfaction in passing on this knowledge to other collectors and explaining the meaning behind each of his coins to the people he meets. He also owns all of the Change Checker accessories to help him with his collection.

Congratulations Chris – keep up the great work!

 

Runners up:

Paula Treleaven

Paula was nominated by Garry Williams for helping members to send and swap their coins throughout the year. She is looking after her husband who has cancer and working, but still manages to find time to keep coin collectors happy and so has been put forward for this award as a thank you for everything that she has done this year.

Susan Walters

Susan was nominated by her husband Robert for her enthusiasm for coin collecting, which started with her collection of Elizabeth II coins and has since grown to encompass £2 and 50p coins as well. She has also led swapping sessions at work and home, sharing her passion for collecting with others, even as her mobility declines. Great work Susan, well done!

 

Junior Change Checker of the Year

Winner:

Isla MacDonald (10 years)

Isla has found a special interest in coin collecting which started after she discovered an unusual 50p, which her father helped her to research. After keeping on eye out for other coins, by the end of her first day as a Change Checker, she had found three more and from there her interest has continued to such an extent that she has collected 40 50p coins and 30 £2 coins.

The local shopkeepers now keep aside any special coins for Isla as she always asks for them in her change. This interest has become infectious with her family, and even family friends now actively look out for those special remaining coins to complete her collection.

Isla has recently been covering World War 1 in school and was delighted to take in the First World War £2 coin to show her teacher and the class. She will not spend any of ehr special coins, but will help others who are starting out by swapping her doubles for normal coins.

Well done Isla!

 

Runners up:

Sophie Welch (15 years)

Sophie started showing an interest in coins nearly two years ago after noticing the different £2 and 50p designs. She soon got her first Change Checker collectors album and since then her collection has grown. Her interest in Art led her to design a coin in 2018 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing. After contacting The Royal Mint to share her design, Sophie was invited to spend a day at the Royal Mint and was even featured in an article on their blog. Sophie is certain that she wants to design coins for The Royal Mint when she is older. Great work Sophie!

Esme Hurley (8 years)

Esme has been an avid coin collector since the release of the first Beatrix Potter coins back in 2016. She now collects all coin denominations and checks every bit of change she receives and has drawn many members of her family and close friends into her collection hobby to assist in completing her ever growing collection. Esme loves to use the swap app and has travelled to the Change Checker live events. Most recently, Esme did a small presentation to her fellow cub scouts all about her coin collection and earned the cub collector badge. Well done Esme!

 

Coin Design of the Year

It comes as no surprise that the 2018 Coin Design of the Year is awarded to The Snowman 50p.

Natasha Ratcliffe’s dynamic design knocks Aaron West off the top spot for the first time two years, and it’s clear to see why she is the deserving winner this year. This Christmas 50p issued to mark the 40th anniversary of the publication of Raymond Briggs’ much-loved festive tale The Snowman™ depicts the boy and the snowman flying through the night sky above Brighton Pier and has been the most sought-after 50p of the year.

Congratulations Natasha!

 

Coin Story of the Year

The winner of the 2018 Coin Story of the Year Award goes to Lee Boyce from This Money for his breaking news article covering this year’s biggest reveal – the A-Z 10p coins!

 

 

Lee said, “I’m delighted to receive the award for Coin Story of the Year – and it’s sound as a pound that This is Money has been recognised for our excellent coverage on all things numismatical.

We always like to get our two pennies across in stories, and to make sure that anything we write about coins is accurate – not using overhyped and inaccurate information.

Thanks to Change Checker for the award – we will endeavour to continue with our solid coin stories into 2019.”

 

A big thank you once again to Coin Collector for supporting us this year and of course a huge congratulations to all of our winners and all the fantastic entries we had this year. We’d like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support in 2018 and hope that 2019 is a fantastic year of Change Checking for you all!

 

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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