Posts Tagged ‘Collecting’
Can change collecting improve mindfulness?
Have you ever considered how change collecting could benefit your mindfulness?
We all know the joy of building up a coin collection, but it’s also worth considering how checking your change could improve mindfulness…
This was brought to our attention when a Change Checker wrote in to tell us about how he started coin collecting after it was recommended to help with mindfulness.
As today is Mindfulness Day, we thought it would be a good idea to share these ideas with you and get your take on the benefits of change collecting.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness encourages people to reconnect with their bodies and the sensations they experience to become more aware of the present moment.
This has been said to help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better.
Mindfulness is strongly connected with emotional awareness. An awareness of this kind could also help us notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier and deal with them better.
How does change collecting relate to mindfulness?
Mental Health Charity, Mind (2018) suggests setting aside regular time to practice mindfulness in some way.
There are many different mindfulness techniques, such as practising yoga, meditation or deep breathing, but you could also consider finding a hobby or activity which you find relaxing and gives you a sense of achievement to help create a mindful state of being.
Change checking involves patience.
I’m sure we’ve all been there, diligently checking through the change in your piggy bank to see what you can find. The repetitive practise of checking through coins could help you to focus on the present, and I don’t know about you, but I certainly find it relaxing.
In fact, even watching others check through change seems to promote feelings of positivity.
Just take a look at the amount of YouTube coin hunt videos to see how many people resonate with this.
Learning is key
Research shows that learning throughout life is associated with greater satisfaction and optimism and can give you a sense of achievement and a new confidence.
This can come from starting a new hobby (such as coin collecting) or setting new targets e.g. completing a specific collection.
But it could also involve learning about the different coins in circulation. Put your knowledge to the test in our 50p quiz or learn about the designers behind your favourite 50p coins to expand your knowledge.
Strengthening relationships
Remember, learning often involves interacting with other people. It’s been suggested that this can increase one’s wellbeing by helping us build and strengthen social relationships.
The Change Checker social channels and our Facebook community page provide a space for novice, intermediate and the advance coin collectors to talk about their shared interest and swap with one another.
Set your goals
If you’re new to coin collecting, think about setting yourself some achievable goals.
Perhaps you could start collecting a series such as Beatrix Potter, Paddington or the Olympic 50ps.
For the more advanced collectors, perhaps think about different ways to collect, such as joining the Definitive 50p Collecting Challenge, or starting a date run collection.
However you choose to further your hobby, the important thing to keep in mind is that you are taking part in something you love, which brings you happiness, and can hopefully improve your mindfulness.
Have you felt the benefits of coin collecting? Let us know in the comments below.
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
The Definitive 50p Collecting Challenge
*** UPDATE ***
The Definitive 50p Collecting Challenge has now come to an end as the 50p coin celebrated its 50th anniversary on the 14th October 2019, however you can still take up the challenge for yourself!
Best of luck hunting down all the definitive 50ps from your change!
There are currently 21 different definitive 50p coin designs to be found in your daily change. Your mission is to collect all of them from your change.
Definitive 50p coins
The mintage chart below shows how many of each UK definitive 50p coin is currently in circulation.
The rarest definitive 50p is the 2017 Royal Shield, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled and check the dates on your Royal Shield 50ps on the hunt for this coin.
Yasmin and I were actually lucky enough to come across the 2017 Royal Shield during a 50p coin hunt, so it can be done and they most certainly are out there if you check your change!
We don’t yet know the mintage figures for 2018 and 2019 50p coins, so these coins haven’t been included on the chart, however it’s worth holding onto these coins as you never know how rare they might turn out to be! Our mintage charts and the Definitive 50p Checklist will be updated as soon these figures are confirmed.
You might have also noticed that no definitive 50p coins were issued for circulation in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016. These coins won’t be included in the Definitive 50p Collecting Challenge, however if you do manage to find one in your change you will be very lucky as they would have come from an Annual Coin Set and are not intended for circulation.
You can download and print the Definitive 50p Collecting Challenge checklist here to keep track of the coins you’ve managed to find so far.
January 2019 eBay Tracker Update
Buying and selling coins on the secondary market can be a bit of a minefield and excessive coin prices on eBay can leave collectors confused as to how much these sought-after coins are really selling for.
So we’ve simplified the process for you by sharing our UPDATED Change Checker eBay Tracker and Valuation Index for the Top 9 coins and banknotes …
Valuation Index
Find out which coins and notes have been the key movers and shakers in the updated eBay Tracker below.
There has been an overall increase in the price of our Top 9 most sought-after coins and notes, with the most notable increase going to the Jemima Puddle Duck 50p, which has jumped from an average sold price of £5.50 in June to £11.00 in January!
After dropping 19% last year, the Olympic Football 50p has now rocketed up by 29% and is also currently selling at £11.00. The Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 and the Undated 20p have also seen improvement since June, with the £2 increasing by 20% to a phenomenal £31.00 and the 20p now selling for £50.00 on average.
Of course the highest selling coin of our Top 9 is the highly sought-after Kew Gardens 50p. This coin remains king, selling for an incredible £97.00, which is a 20% increase on June’s figures. There has been a lot of excitement regarding the 2019 re-issued Kew Gardens 50p coin which has led to increased press coverage of this coin, which could be a factor in the higher prices people are willing to pay to get hold of one for their collection.
Kew Gardens 50p still selling for £97.00
You’ll notice with this update that the Inverted Effigy £2 has been removed and this is due to the fact that the rarity of this coin means very few are available and the prices are volatile. This combined with the fact that we have not been able to find 9 of these coins sold in a qualifying period means that it has been removed and replaced with the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p.
Could this newcomer be the rarest coin on the eBay Tracker?
This newcomer to the eBay Tracker was only available at The Royal Mint Experience as a Strike Your Own Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin and the mintage figures are unknown, but due to the short time frame and visitor numbers, there could well be substantially less than 210,000 of these coins struck, meaning the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin could very possibly have a lower mintage figure than even the Kew Gardens 50p! And this is certainly reflected in the price people are willing to pay for the coin, with an average sold price of £59.00.
2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p selling for £59.00
Whilst the average sold price for the 92/93 EEC 50p remains unchanged at £56.00, the 2015 Britannia is the only coin in our Top 10 to have decreased in value since June, with a decrease of 20% meaning the average sold price is now £4.00.
Both banknotes in our Top 10 have also taken a hit, with the AA01 Polymer £5 slipping from £14.50 to £10.00 and the AA01 Polymer £10.00 from £18.00 to £15.00. However we must remember that this is still double the face value of the £5 note and 1.5X face value for the £10, which certainly isn’t a bad profit to be made!
So now that you’re up to date with our latest eBay Tracker, will you be selling any of the coins in your collection or will you continue to save them? Let us know in the comments below.
How does the eBay Tracker work?
The Change Checker eBay Tracker takes the last 9 sold prices achieved on eBay and gives the median price achieved (rounded to the nearest 50p). By taking the median, rather than an average, we avoid skewing created by one or two excessive prices achieved.
Please note that the Change Checker eBay Tracker is only ever designed to be a guide as to prices achieved on eBay. Prices may vary depending on collector demand and the quality of the coin being sold. It does not provide any guarantee as to future values of coins.
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