Posts Tagged ‘Rare’
Why the latest Royal Mint “error” is the hardest to find yet. Plus what it might be worth…
In 2017, following reports by Change Checker and in the national press that a die mix up at The Royal Mint resulted in a number of 12 sided £1 coins being struck with dual-dates, The Royal Mint officially confirmed the error.
However, this is one of the hardest errors ever to spot. That’s because even with 20/20 eyesight you will struggle to see the incorrect date on the coin’s reverse because it’s micro-engraved as part of the coin’s ultra-secure finish.
The error is so small, it cannot be seen with the naked eye.
What do I need to look for?
Firstly, although both 2016 and 2017 obverse-dated £1 coins entered circulation in April 2017, the die-error mix up appears to have only occurred on a limited number of coins with a 2016 date on the Queen’s head side.
So it’s worth checking any 2016 coins. You’ll need to look just inside the rim of the design-side of the coin, where you will see some tiny writing. You’ll almost certainly need a Microscope or Phonescope to properly see the writing, which should reveal the date.
You’re looking for a 2016 obverse-dated coin with 2017 micro-engraving on the reverse.
The Phonescope allows you to see tiny details on coins
What if I can’t read the micro-engraving?
With over 1.5 billion new £1 coins being struck not all coins are finished perfectly. Unfortunately, a poorly struck example where you cannot read the micro-engraving is not of great interest to collectors.
What about other £1 mis-strikes and errors?
We believe this is the only known £1 error. Due to the huge number of coins that have entered circulation, there are a number of interesting mis-strikes, which, although numismatically interesting, have relatively limited collectibility or value.
More worryingly, there are a number of altered £1 coins for sale, claiming to have misaligned heads or similar unusual errors. However, both these are likely to have transgressed the Coinage Act by tampering with the coin and are clear minting impossibilities. STEER WELL CLEAR is our advice. Similarly beware of photographs that purport to show a genuine Dual-dated £1 coin – you need to be confident you’re not simply looking at two different coins.
So what is the Dual-dated £1 Coin worth?
This remains the most difficult question but let’s take a look at the available information.
- How many were struck?
The Royal Mint has given no indication of how many Dual-dated £1 Coins ever went into circulation – and it’s quite likely they do not even know. We have not seen any examples amongst our stock. Equally, 1,500,000,000 2016 £1 coins were struck and rates of 1,800 coins per minute were achieved at the height of production.
The key number seems to be how many coins The Royal Mint strike before they replace a die. Given the nature of the “error” it seems likely that it was only corrected when the die was replaced. Understandably, the number of coins The Royal Mint strikes with each blank is not something the Mint chooses to share for commercial reasons.
- What are the comparables?
The key to any valuation is what comparable coins sell for. The most obvious comparable is the 2008 undated 20p, which was caused by a similar die mix up. That sells online for between £50 and £80.
Other interesting UK errors include “Silver” 2p coins, which have sold in recent years for as much as £1,400 but these are considerably rarer relying on a few old 10p blanks being left over when a blank barrel has been filled with new 2p blanks. Another 2 pence error, when some DATE 2p pieces were struck using the old decimalisation dies with the word “NEW” in front of “PENCE”, currently sells for around £60.
The 2015 Rare ‘Silver’ 2p
- So what is the new Dual-dated £1 Coin worth?
We understand that at least one example was sold for £2,500 to a buyer in Spain in 2017, which probably marks the likely ceiling for value.
Probably more Dual-dated £1 coins have been struck than the 2p coins. However, the error is particularly difficult to spot due to the size of the micro-engraving. It’s also worth noting that interest in £1 coins is still very high and, of course, because they are relatively new in circulation, the chances of finding an all-important good quality version is high.
Bearing all that in mind, our best value estimate for a Dual-dated £1 Coin in excellent condition is currently £300 – £500.
Finding the coin in your change
We’ve heard from two Change Checkers lucky enough to find a dual dated error, one in October 2018 and one in April 2019.
I’m sure that the challenge of finding a dual dated £1 coin has sparked many Change Checker’s interest in collecting coins and I’m sure will encourage more collectors out there to look more closely at their £1 coins.
Dual dated £1 error coin found by a lucky Change Checker
If you’ve come across an interesting coin in your change, be sure to get in touch with us. We’d love to hear about the rare coins you’ve found.
Help find the Dual-dated £1 Coin with the Change Checker Phonescope
The Phonescope works by clipping onto a mobile device, and magnifying the camera, allowing you to take incredible close-up photos and videos.
The Jane Austen Polymer £10 notes to look out for…
When the new polymer £5 note was released in September 2016, serial numbers became the talk of a nation. Stories of early serial numbers selling for thousands of pounds were commonplace. An “AK37 007 James Bond Bank of England Polymer £5 note” sold for £5000 – 1,000 times its face value!
A ‘James ‘Bond’ £5 note sold for £5,000 on eBay
So with the release of the new Jane Austen £10 note TODAY, I’ve taken a look at the serial numbers I think everybody will be searching for…
World famous author, Jane Austen, features on the new Polymer £10 note
The first prefixes I considered were JA01, JA75 (Jane Austen’s birth year) and JA17 (the year of Jane Austen’s death).
However, whilst these will likely become popular with collectors in the future, it could be many years before notes with these serial numbers enter circulation due to the huge amount of possible combinations that would come before ‘JA’.
Prefixes on the £5 notes started at AA and there are 60 notes on a sheet, AA01- AA60. For each of these cyphers there are 999,000 serial numbers printed: 000001 to 999000. Therefore for the first AA cypher there’s an incredible 59,940,000 notes!
I know that with the £10 note being larger, there are only 54 notes per sheet but that’s still A LOT of combinations.
UK Bank notes are produced in very large batches (Image: the Bank of England)
So I started looking at the main 8 digit serial numbers and there are certainly some key Jane Austen dates collectors will be looking out for:
- Serial numbers 16 121775 and 18 071817 would represent the author’s date of birth and death respectively.
- Serial number 17 751817 would be her birth and death year combined.
- And true Jane Austen fanatics would know that Serial number 28 011813 is the date that Jane Austen’s most celebrated novel, Pride and Prejudice, was first published.
What others serial numbers should I look out for?
The first is obvious, AA01 notes are the first to be printed and will undoubtedly be popular amongst collectors.
The rest of the AA prefix notes will be interesting to collectors but not necessarily worth a huge amount, although that said, some £5 notes did sell for around £20 last year – four times their face value.
There may well be a rush to find the AK47 serial numbers again and James Bond 007 will likely be popular.
Consecutively numbered notes are always interesting to collectors too, one man sold three consecutive AA01 notes for £456.
Will all the serial numbers be circulated?
Actually, no. The Bank of England will always hold back some of the notes with the earliest serial numbers, donating them to people or institutions that were involved in the development of the note or who traditionally receive a note when a new series is issued. For example, the Queen receives AA01 000001 and the Churchill War Rooms received a new £5 note with serial number AA01 001945, the date that WWII ended.
The Bank of England did offer people the chance to own some of the earliest serial numbers when they held an auction (which raised £194,500 for a number of charities). However, these were not cheap, the earliest note (AA01 000017) sold for £4,150 and the average price for a single £5 note was £865.
Can you request specific serial numbered notes from the bank?
Sadly not. For the launch of the new £5 note 440 million bank notes were printed and these were printed in very large batches.
There will be even more new £10 notes printed than the £5, to service the country’s 48,000 ATMs for example, so it’s just not possible for the bank to separate certain serial numbers.
How much should I pay for a new £10 note?
The simple answer is, it’s completely up to you. An early serial numbered £10 note will be a genuine piece of the country’s history. It’s likely the bank of England will hold another auction of early editions, so if you have the disposable income, why not?!
However, when the polymer £5 note was released we saw a collecting frenzy. The prices people were paying (and demanding) for some of the early notes was vastly inflated and in some cases ridiculous, as Yasmin explained earlier in the year.
Just remember, a year down the line the market has settled and you can now pick up an AA01 note for around £7.00 on eBay.
Exclusive 2017 Jane Austen £2 Coin and £10 Banknote Pack
2017 marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. To celebrate such an inspirational female figure, the Royal Mint and the Bank of England have chosen to honour her on a brand new £2 coin and £10 banknote.
You can own one of the very first Polymer £10 notes issued in perfect mint condition alongside the 2017 Jane Austen £2 Coin issued by The Royal Mint.
August 2017 Video Newsletter
With the release of a new £5 coin, a 20 year anniversary and a major milestone in The Great £1 Coin Race – August tuned out to be a very interesting month!
Watch as Yasmin and Luke discuss all the latest change collecting news: