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2023 Change Checker Awards – Winners Revealed!
The 2023 Change Checker Awards were opened to celebrate the very best collectors from the past year.
It’s been wonderful to see so many nominations for incredible Change Checkers and Junior Change Checkers – a great dedication to our beloved collecting hobby!
But our well deserved winners have now been selected…
Change Checker of the Year
Jeff Savage has been crowned as our 2023 Change Checker of the Year!
Jeff’s colleague nominated him for Change Checker of the Year saying that he has an impressive coin collection and his knowledge of past coins is second to none. He’s even given coins to friends, colleagues and family members to keep, inspiring them to start their own collections and encouraging the next generation of collectors.
It was even mentioned that Jeff might just be the biggest coin collector in Herefordshire!
Well done Jeff, keep up the good work and spreading the word of collecting!
Junior Change Checker of the Year
Wilf Ross and his brother Hugo have happily accepted the titles of 2023 Junior Change Checkers of the Year!
Wilf nominated himself and his brother for Junior Change Checkers of the year, as they love the collecting hobby and have been eagerly trying to expand their collection in the past year. Hugo and Wilf also said they’ve been talking to their teachers about coins and inspiring them to look out for commemorative issues in their change.
Wilf is aiming to collect every commemorative circulating 50p and £2 coin – good luck with your hunt Wilf!
Both Jeff and Wilf & Hugo will be receiving a personalized engraved Change Checker trophy, a Change Checker bundle of goodies worth £50 AND a year’s subscription to Coin Collector Magazine! A big thank you to All About Coins for gifting the subscriptions for this year’s Change Checker Awards – I think we can all agree it makes a fantastic prize!
2023 Coin Design of the Year
This year, we also asked you to vote for your favourite 2023 UK coin design!
With some incredible UK coins issued this year, it’s hard to chose just one – but the votes are in and it seems there is a clear winner…
First Place: The Flying Scotsman £2
With 17.01% of the votes, the Flying Scotsman £2 is your favourite coin from 2023!
It was issued at the beginning of the year to mark the centenary of world’s most famous locomotive – The Flying Scotsman. It was included in the 2023 Annual Coin Set, meaning collectors have had nearly a whole year to enjoy it’s beautiful design.
Find out more about the Flying Scotsman £2 here >>
Second Place: Bee £1
In second place is one of the coins from the New UK Coinage Set which was released in October – the Bee £1. The long awaited new coins for King Charles III proved incredibly popular with collectors, with their wildlife and nature designs perfectly representing The King’s passion for conservation. Click here to hear what the people of Poole thought of the UK’s New Coinage.
You can find out more about the UK’s New Coinage here >>
Third Place: J.R.R. Tolkien £2
The third most popular coin design of 2023 was another £2 from the 2023 Annual Coin Set – the J.R.R. Tolkien £2. It was issued to celebrate legendary fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien and marks 50 years since his passing. Best known for creating The Lord of the Rings books, Tolkien is often referred to as the ‘Father of Fantasy’.
Find out more about the J.R.R. Tolkien £2 here >>
A big thank you once again to All About Coins for supporting us this year and of course a huge congratulations to all of our winners!
We’d like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support in 2023 and hope that 2024 is a fantastic year of Change Checking for you all!
Never miss a UK coin issue!
2023 Change Checker Awards NOW OPEN!
We’re delighted to announce the 2023 Change Checker Awards, in association with All About Coins, are now OPEN!
The Change Checker Awards give collectors the chance to look back at all of the fantastic issues of the year whilst celebrating the very best coin collectors out there.
We’re looking for the 2023 Change Checker of the Year and the 2023 Junior Change Checker of the year and we need your help!
Watch our video below, or continue reading to find out how to enter…
Change Checker and Junior Change Checker of the Year
Nominations are now closed
The victorious Change Checker and Junior Change Checker of the Year will be announced on Friday 8th December.
They’ll each win an exclusive Change Checker Trophy, a bundle of goodies worth £50, AND a year’s subscription to Coin Collector magazine.
UK Coin Design of the Year
To celebrate a fantastic year of UK coins, we also asked you to vote for your favourite coin design from 2023.
Voting is now closed – your favourite coin design will be revealed in our YouTube video on 8th December!
Get your hands on the 2023 Annual Set!
Secure the 2023 UK Annual Coin Set for just £42.99 (+p&p) >>
It’s (Greenwich Mean)time for your latest Scarcity Index Update!
It’s time for the latest Scarcity Index update, your chance to discover the UK’s most sought after circulation 10p, 50p and £2 coins.
This information has been compiled using data from the Change Checker Swap Centre 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 update.
Where will the first King Charles III 50p rank?
Excitingly, the first circulating coin to feature King Charles III on the obverse – the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam 50p – entered the Scarcity Index for the first time in our previous update.
As this is only the second time a King Charles III 50p has featured in our Scarcity Index, it currently ranks as common. Despite entering circulation almost a year ago, the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam 50p will still be making its way into collections, and those who do find one in their change will no doubt be holding onto it.
Keep your eyes peeled for future Scarcity Index updates to see where the first King Charles III 50p will rank!
Haven’t found this coin in your change yet? Find out where in the UK you’re most likely to find one here >>
50p Scarcity Index
Whilst the latter half of the 50p index has remained fairly stable, there have been some huge movers in this latest update.
Climbing an impressive 14 places is the second coin in the Paddington 50p series – the 2019 Paddington at St Paul’s Cathedral 50p. The Paddington 50p series was incredibly popular with collectors, and inspired many younger people to start collecting. The Paddington at St Paul’s Cathedral 50p was even voted the second favourite coin in the series in a 2019 poll.
Another 50p that shot up the ranks is the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 50p, which moved up a massive 15 places. This 50p has previously been sitting near the bottom of the Scarcity Index, making it one of the most common 50ps in circulation, however it looks like it could now be becoming more sought after among collectors.
There has also been movement amongst some of the Olympic 50ps, with the Fencing and Gymnastics 50ps both moving up 10 places. This puts them near the top of the index, which is usually reserved for some of the rarest 50ps in circulation.
Some less fortunate coins are the Mrs Tiggy-Winkle 50p which has dropped by 15 places, and the Roger Bannister 50p which fell 14 places.
If you’re new to collecting and want to find out more about circulation coins, you can check out our fact files here >>
Otherwise, keep reading to find out which 10ps and £2 coins you should be looking out for.
10p Scarcity Index
There has been quite a shuffle up on the A-Z 10p Scarcity Index, with all but 3 coins moving.
The biggest change since the last update is the previously ‘less common’ C for Cricket 10p, which has dropped 12 places. Also moving down the ranks are the E for English Breakfast 10p and the O for Oak 10p, which fell by 9 and 10 places respectively.
It’s not all bad news though, as the G for Greenwich Meantime 10p climbed 10 places and the K for King Arthur 10p rose by 8 places.
*Note*
It’s worth remembering that this Index is only ranking the 10ps against each other, when really even the ones at the bottom of the list are still incredibly sought-after and even now (4 years on since they were last released) they are still the coins every collector seems to talk about!
And that’s no surprise, as a maximum of JUST 304,000 of each A-Z 10p design entered circulation across 2018 and 2019 – making them some of the rarest coins out there. So make sure you keep your eyes peeled for them in your change!
£2 Scarcity Index
We tend to see less movement on the £2 index due to the fact less coins have entered circulation in recent years – as you can see from the bottom of the latest £2 Index. However, it’s worth remembering just how rare and collectable some of these coins are, even after being in circulation for so many years.
As always, the Commonwealth Games N. Ireland £2 remains at the top of the list due to it’s incredibly low mintage of just 485,000.
The 2014 Trinity House £2 has recovered the 7 places it fell by in the last update, putting it back into the ‘less common’ category. However, the Darwin £2 and the Gunpowder Plot £2 have both gone down by 6 places. This could be due to people holding onto their Gunpowder Plot £2 during Firework Night, meaning less swaps were raised for it.
Despite less £2s entering circulation, it’s certainly still worth holding onto any coins you can find, before they’re snapped up!
How your Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have relied on 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.
What’s more, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – for example the First World War £2 Coin series.
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. This allows Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index doesn’t necessarily equate to value, but it is certainly a good indicator. For example, the Kew Gardens 50p coin commands a premium of up to 200 times face value on eBay and is unsurprisingly top of the 50p Index.
You can use our 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. Because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone.
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