General info

Have you just found a coin in your change and are wondering how scarce it is? Well, Change Checker has you covered with our Scarcity Index!

Our Scarcity Index uses data from the Change Checker Swap Centre, combined with a coin’s mintage figure, to determine just how scarce and sought-after your coins are. The information is 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.

Excitingly, this time we have not one, but TWO new additions to the 50p index as we’ve had the official mintage figures for the coins that entered circulation in 2023!

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50p Scarcity Index

Get ready for the 50p Scarcity Index to get a shake up, as we see two new coins enter the rankings!

Now, you might be thinking – don’t we have a new rarest UK 50p with the 2023 Salmon 50p? Shouldn’t it knock the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p off the top spot?

Well, despite entering circulation just over a year ago, we only recently found out that the mintage figure for the 2023 Salmon 50p was lower than the Kew Gardens 50p, with just 200,000 in circulation! This news means that only a few people will have been lucky enough to find a Salmon 50p in their change, and those who have one aren’t going to be willing to part with it any time soon!

As it’s such a new addition to the Scarcity Index, the Salmon 50p currently ranks 5th from last place, but watch this space – as I’m sure it’ll make its way up the ranks in months to come!

Another new coin on the Index is the Coronation 50p, which entered circulation in August 2023, and we now know it has a circulating mintage of 5 million. Whilst this doesn’t make it particularly rare, it’s entered the Index at a respectable position, and we expect it to climb as more people find one in their change.

Other notable movers on the 50p Index are the Gymnastics 50p which has climbed 20 places, the 2018 Peter Rabbit 50p which has shot up 23 places and the Representation of the People 50p and the Tom Kitten 50p which have both gone up by 16 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.

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10p Scarcity Index

We’ve seen quite a bit of movement in the 10p index, with all but 3 coins moving positions.

The big movers are G for Greenwich Meantime 10p which has climbed 16 places, the A for Angel of the North 10p which has gone up 13 places and the V for Villages 10p which has fallen 16 places. The X for X Marks the Spot 10p remains in last place at the bottom of the index.

Collectors will agree that the A-Z 10ps are some of the hardest commemorative coins to come across in circulation – that’s not surprising when you consider a maximum of JUST 304,000 of each A-Z 10p design entered circulation across 2018 and 2019 and it’s thought that a large percentage of these 10ps have been snapped up by collectors.

*Note
It’s worth remembering that our Scarcity Index only ranks the 10ps against each other, so even the ones at the bottom of the list are still incredibly sought-after.

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£2 Scarcity Index

The recent mintage figure announcement also confirmed that no new £2 coins entered circulation in 2023, meaning we haven’t had a new commemorative £2 enter circulation since 2016! Due to this, we generally see less movement on the £2 index, however there are a few coins which have made surprising moves.

As usual, the 2002 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games £2 remains at the top of the index as the most sought after £2 in circulation. It has a mintage figure of just 458,000, making it extremely difficult for collectors to come across in their change.

A few other coins have stayed put, including the King James Bible £2, Robert Burns £2 and the Technology £2 which remains right at the bottom of the index. The most notable movements are the Shakespeare Comedies £2 climbing 15 places and the Trinity House £2 falling by 8 places.

A lot of the other coins have shuffled around by just 1 or 2 places, so it’s worth keeping an eye on our Scarcity Index to see exactly where your coins rank.

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How your Scarcity Index works

In the past, collectors have relied on mintage figures alone to identify the scarcest coins.  But they only tell part of the story.  

That’s why we’ve combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information:

• How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers on our Web App, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin
• The number of times a design has been requested as a swap on our Swap Centre 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.

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How much are my coins worth?

The Scarcity Index doesn’t necessarily equate to value, but it is certainly a good indicator. You can use our 6 point guide to help you determine a more realistic value for your coins.

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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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