After more than 30 years in the nation's pockets, the familiar round £1 coin was replaced with an all new, 12-sided £1 coin in 2017. With just 5 weeks to go, the awareness campaign for the new £1 coin has stepped up a notch over the last few days, with the press warning that you need to spend all your old round £1 coins before they cease being legal tender on 15 October (although you will still be able to exchange them at banks). But Change Checker is urging the British public to check their £1 coins before.
The £1 coin that could be worth over £25.00 and why you need to be checking your £1 coins before you spend them.
Jump straight to the NEW Change Checker £1 Scarcity Index
It's not too late to find a rare £1 coin in your change before they cease to be legal tender after 15 October 2017
With just 5 weeks to go, the awareness campaign for the new £1 coin has stepped up a notch over the last few days, with the press warning that you need to spend all your old round £1 coins before they cease being legal tender on 15 October (although you will still be able to exchange them at banks).
But Change Checker is urging the British public to check their £1 coins before they spend them. That's because as the Round £1 Coin disappears from our change forever, collectors are desperate to complete a collection of all 24 designs. And that includes some really quite rare £1 coins still in circulation.
Launch of the NEW Change Checker £1 Scarcity Index
That's why Change Checker has launched its NEW £1 Scarcity Index to help collectors identify which coins are the rarest.
Up to now, change collectors have relied upon mintage figures for their indication as to which coins in circulation are the rarest. But the story is not that simple…
The £1 coin has been in circulation since 1983. During that time a total of 2.2 billion £1 have been struck for circulation. But they are not all still in use.
The last available figures for coins in circulation, published by The Royal Mint for 2014, suggest that 1,553,000,000 £1 coins are in circulation.
In other words, 650 million of the coins struck no longer circulate, presumably withdrawn over the years as worn or damaged.
The majority of those 650 million coins are from the early issuing years, meaning that although some of those years may have high mintages, the actual number of coins available to collect from your change is far lower. In fact our research suggests that only a little more than half of the early years' £1 coins are still in circulation. Far fewer if you're trying to secure one in good collectable condition.
Scarcity breeds scarcity
But even that is only part of the story. Of course, scarcity breads scarcity.
Even before the launch of the Great One Pound Coin Race, we noticed a rise in collector interest for £1 coins on the back of the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin. And the demand is always disproportionately high for the more difficult coins. The result is a continued ratcheting up in demand for the rarer coins.
The Change Checker £1 Scarcity Index
That's the benefit of the new £1 Scarcity Index. Rather just relying on mintage figures, we have combined them with the two critical points above – the actual numbers of coins in circulation and real collector demand, measured by Change Checker swap data – to create a unique Scarcity Index for the £1 Coin.
Scaled from 100 to 1, the scores represent the relative scarcity of each coin, with 100 being the most scarce.
Scarcity vs Value
The Edinburgh City £1 coin is the UK's scarcest £1 coin design
So what does a coin's Scarcity Index Score mean for its value? Broadly speaking the higher the score, the more valuable a coin is likely to be. So to take the example of the highest scoring coin – the Edinburgh City £1 – it is already achieving prices of between £10.00 and £15.00 on eBay.
However, things can very quickly go mad. For example, since the Royal Mint confirmed the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p as the smallest coin mintage in circulation, online prices have regularly achieved £100 (200 times its face-value).
So with an estimated 600,000 – 800,000 coins still in circulation, the Edinburgh City £1 is somewhere in the region of 25% as scarce as the Kew Gardens 50p but with collectors clamouring to complete their £1 collection, it seems likely that a good quality example could soon be fetching between £25.00 and £50.00.
As for the other £1 coins, they will all be getting rarer by the day as they start to be removed from circulation once the new 12-sided £1 coin is released on 28 March. And, come 15 October, one thing is for certain, any collector looking to own a £1 coin will be paying a premium.
So don't just spend your £1 coins. Check them. Rather than being worthless come 15 October, they may have even more value to collectors – especially if you own a particularly scarce £1 coin.
It's not too late to join the Great One Pound Coin Race.
Almost 20,000 collectors have already joined the Great One Pound Coin Race for FREE.
Simply click here to enter today and you too could own a complete collection of £1 coins direct from your change before they're gone for ever. Best free online bingo sites.
The United Kingdom coinage is denominated in pounds sterling '£'. The pound has been divided into 100 pence (new) on 15 February 1971. About 30.14 billion coins were in circulation in the United Kingdom. Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales mints the British coins. There are eight coins of different denomination in UK currency, including £2, £1, 50 pence, 20 pence, 10 pence, 5 pence, 2 pence, and 1 penny (pence). The back of pence coins was redesigned in 2008 to show a different image of Royal Shield. In February 2017, the Mint issued a circulation, 'The public is requested to spend 'round pounds' at the earliest up to 15 October 2017 because these will be re-used to produce a new styled £1 coin.' According to an estimate by Go Compare Money, around £430 million worth of out of circulation coins is stored in car glove boxes, coin jars, piggy banks in the UK.
The Most Valuable £1, £2, 50p, 20p & 5p Coins:
We see regular media storm in the UK about the Brits scrambling their wallets, glove boxes, coin jars, piggy banks etc to sort out the coins having worth more than the stamped value. You too might have one. Do you know the most valuable round coins you might have knowingly or unknowingly?
![Old pound coins nationwide Old pound coins nationwide](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7fhT3LOrdbU/S_pq4IqbwlI/AAAAAAAAByk/hrnOGzm9qzc/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/Danzig+1000+marks+1923+Issue+f.jpg)
Commonwealth £2 Coin:
It is a special coin launched to commemorate Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Northern Ireland 2002. It is rare to be seen £2 coin as less than 500,000 coins were minted. You can sell these coins online even for £15 to £25.
![Pound Pound](https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2017/07/27/14/oldonepoundcoin2707a.jpg?width=968&auto=webp&quality=75)
‘Typo' Guy Fawkes Coin:
This 50p coin was released in 2005 on 400th anniversary of Gunpowder plot by Royal Mint. These had an embarrassing typo ‘Remember the Fifth of November'. This 50p coin can be sold out online for £5 to £7.
Charles Dickens £2 Coin:
It was released in 2012 to commemorate 200th birthday of famous author. The reverse side of coin features the titles of his famous books. You can sell this coin online for £4 or more sometimes more.
Old Pound Coins Change
Olympic Swimmer 50p coin:
The original Olympic aquatic coin designed with wavy lines on a swimmer's face website a great collectable as just 600 coins were released prior to change in design. This 50p coin with swimmer's face can be sold even for amazing £800.
![Values Values](https://www.leftovercurrency.com/app/uploads/2016/11/1-pound-sterling-coin-great-britain-obverse-1.jpg)
Kew Garden 50p Coin:
Old Pound Coins Value
The 50 pence coin was stamped with Kew Gardens Pagoda. It is rare to find coin as just 210,000 coins were minted. Up to some years back, this coin was being sold at whopping £120 but today, you can sell it in between £30-£50 if you find a coin collecting enthusiast.
Peter Rabbit 50p Coin:
These pretty looking Beatrix Potter coins were released in limited numbers. The Royal Mint never revealed how many coins were minted. The special edition coloured Beatrix Potter animal coins can be sold anywhere between £5 and £15.
Similarly, you might have other rare to find elsewhere coins in your home or office drawers; some of these are – undated 20p, a 5p coin of 1993, 5p error coin of 2008, 10p silver coin of 1968, a 2p coin of 1983 and £1 coin of 2015 or 2016.
What to Do With Old Round Pounds Coins:
Although many round old coins have lost the legal tender status from midnight of 15 October 2017; however, these old coins can be deposited into bank accounts. Specific arrangements vary at large from bank to bank including the maximum depositing limit. You will have to go to your bank, area post office or building society to exchange the old currency. Any post office can sort this problem for you, provided, you have an account with building society or bank. If a high street bank denies exchanging your money, the Bank of England will do it certainly because it is legally bound. For exchanges, you will need to put the old currency into plastic cash wallet issued by the bank. If you take old coins to the local post office, you can deposit the currency into your bank account directly; luckily, you have more than 11,500 branches. If you are living outside of London, the Bank of England lets you send old currency through post also. The highest street banks including Ulster, HSBC, RBS, NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds, Clydesdale, Santander, Nationwide, Bank of Scotland, Yorkshire Bank, Halifax are providing this facility; so, you don't need to panic. Yes, you must have proof of address and photo ID for verification purpose.
![Old Pound Coins Old Pound Coins](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/art/2015/12/30/84950641_Undated_Royal_Mint_handout_images_showing_the_designs_of_pound_coins_issued_between_1983_an_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGQR7TMwEvfaYG0TH6J-Ry3bllit5ehnaQShws0gEctY.jpg?imwidth=450)
Commonwealth £2 Coin:
It is a special coin launched to commemorate Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Northern Ireland 2002. It is rare to be seen £2 coin as less than 500,000 coins were minted. You can sell these coins online even for £15 to £25.
‘Typo' Guy Fawkes Coin:
This 50p coin was released in 2005 on 400th anniversary of Gunpowder plot by Royal Mint. These had an embarrassing typo ‘Remember the Fifth of November'. This 50p coin can be sold out online for £5 to £7.
Charles Dickens £2 Coin:
It was released in 2012 to commemorate 200th birthday of famous author. The reverse side of coin features the titles of his famous books. You can sell this coin online for £4 or more sometimes more.
Old Pound Coins Change
Olympic Swimmer 50p coin:
The original Olympic aquatic coin designed with wavy lines on a swimmer's face website a great collectable as just 600 coins were released prior to change in design. This 50p coin with swimmer's face can be sold even for amazing £800.
Kew Garden 50p Coin:
Old Pound Coins Value
The 50 pence coin was stamped with Kew Gardens Pagoda. It is rare to find coin as just 210,000 coins were minted. Up to some years back, this coin was being sold at whopping £120 but today, you can sell it in between £30-£50 if you find a coin collecting enthusiast.
Peter Rabbit 50p Coin:
These pretty looking Beatrix Potter coins were released in limited numbers. The Royal Mint never revealed how many coins were minted. The special edition coloured Beatrix Potter animal coins can be sold anywhere between £5 and £15.
Similarly, you might have other rare to find elsewhere coins in your home or office drawers; some of these are – undated 20p, a 5p coin of 1993, 5p error coin of 2008, 10p silver coin of 1968, a 2p coin of 1983 and £1 coin of 2015 or 2016.
What to Do With Old Round Pounds Coins:
Although many round old coins have lost the legal tender status from midnight of 15 October 2017; however, these old coins can be deposited into bank accounts. Specific arrangements vary at large from bank to bank including the maximum depositing limit. You will have to go to your bank, area post office or building society to exchange the old currency. Any post office can sort this problem for you, provided, you have an account with building society or bank. If a high street bank denies exchanging your money, the Bank of England will do it certainly because it is legally bound. For exchanges, you will need to put the old currency into plastic cash wallet issued by the bank. If you take old coins to the local post office, you can deposit the currency into your bank account directly; luckily, you have more than 11,500 branches. If you are living outside of London, the Bank of England lets you send old currency through post also. The highest street banks including Ulster, HSBC, RBS, NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds, Clydesdale, Santander, Nationwide, Bank of Scotland, Yorkshire Bank, Halifax are providing this facility; so, you don't need to panic. Yes, you must have proof of address and photo ID for verification purpose.
What to Do If You Don't Have Local Bank Branch:
For many people having old money coins, it often becomes difficult to have a local branch of a bank if they are staying out of their city or in a new area. In this case, you are left with one option to approach the post office. Donating some coins to a charity organization is also a good idea that gives you mental peace. You can sell the coins online also to coin collectors. Using online sources seems the best way to sell the old pound coins but not all the websites are designed to help you get the best price. If you are not confident of getting the best price of old British coins, you can explore the following routes also:
- ☺Coin shows: Regularly organized at various locations all across the UK.
- ☺Online coin dealers: These professionals actively buy old coins.
- ☺Local Coin dealers: If you are in hurry to sell the old pound coins because of urgent need of cash from a local source, it is a good option but you may not get the best price.
- ☺Online auction sites: Some of these websites charge a fee while some let you do it free; here you need in-depth knowledge of the real market value of coins that you have to sell.
- ☺Private Treaty sale: It is a better option than online auction sites but it offers limited to scope to sell your old coins. The best part is that you don't pay anything as commission over the sale value.