Posts Tagged ‘Football’
Harry Kane could be bringing more than football home…
As England heads into the semi-finals, the Golden Boot looks like it could be a fit for captain Harry Kane, but football might not be the only thing that’s coming home if we make it through to the finals…
Eleven special £5 notes, engraved with a tiny portrait of footballer Harry Kane, will be put into circulation if England reach the World Cup final. And each banknote could be worth more than £20,000!
England captain Harry Kane. Credit: bbc.co.uk
Specialist micro-engraver Graham Short has been using fine needles to carefully etch Kane’s portrait on the ‘clear section’ of the polymer £5 notes to celebrate the success of the England Football team.
But they will only be put into circulation if England beat Croatia during Wednesday’s semi-final match… So if you’re not already into the football, here’s another reason to back the England team!
Each note has taken six days to complete and they will be distributed by Mr Short in Norwich and the Midlands, Sheffield, Manchester and North Yorkshire as he makes his way around the country.
You may remember our previous blog detailing some of Mr Shorts other work which featured a micro-engraving of Jane Austen on the Polymer banknotes of which there is still one left to find.
Eagle eyed collectors have been hunting down this final note and will be excited to hear about the Harry Kane designs, should they be released.
Jane Austen etched onto polymer banknote. Credit: BBC Scotland Twitter
According to Gallery owner Mr Huggins-Haig, artist Graham Short’s work has an insurance valuation of £50,000 so £20,000 for a banknote with his artwork on as a reasonable estimate. Mr Short’s last work, a portrait of the Queen on a pinhead, sold for £100,000.
As before, anyone who finds one of the notes has been advised to contact the Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery in Kelso, which launched the project as they will provide advice on how to put the artwork up for auction.
Royal Mint re-date coin for England fans…
To celebrate England’s on-going success, The Royal Mint has issued a special release that is only available to purchase for four weeks – the UK 2018 Lion of England £5 BU pack.
This is definitely one for the collector. Not on the original scheduled release list, the coin features the Lion of England with a special 2018 striking date – a rare occurrence and one that will make this coin hugely collectable to not only football fans but sharp-eyed collectors.
Make sure to secure your 2018 Lion of England £5 coin today >>
50p “Scarcity Index” Launched – discover which UK 50p coins are the most collectable
Can’t wait – click here to reveal the UK’s “scarcest” 50p coin
Change Checker has launched the 50p “Scarcity Index”, which tracks which circulating 50p coins are the most scarce and collectable.
The index uses a unique combination of mintage, collecting and swap data to give the most up-to-date picture of today’s 50p coin collecting market.
The top 5
There’s no surprise to find Kew Gardens at the top of the list. With a mintage of just 210,000, it is also the least owned and most requested swap. The next 4 scarcest coins are all from the 2012 Olympics – Football, Triathlon, Judo and Wrestling.
The recent Beatrix Potter 50p coins also rank highly, with Jemima Puddle-Duck and Squirrel Nutkin coming in at numbers 6 and 7 – based largely on their low level of ownership and high swap requests, as official mintages are yet to be confirmed by the Royal Mint.
Click here to see the full list
How the 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 Beatrix Potter issues being a classic 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. Whilst Kew Gardens 50p coins command prices on eBay of between £70 and £100, other coins towards the top of the scarcity index typically achieve a premium of roughly 10 – 12 times face value.
But don’t forget the joy of Change Collecting is that you have always have a chance of finding any one of these coins in your change – even Kew Gardens – you just have to be sharp-eyed.
What about £1 and £2 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. Change Checker will be releasing the £2 Scarcity Index later in April.
