How to spot if your £1 coin is worth £100s

Get checking your change!

Pound coins

by Anna Sky Hulton |
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Every now and then it seems that there's a mistake as coins are printed and recently a rare £1 coin has been gaining interest.

As you will know last March a new £1 coin was introduced, said to be the most state of the art coin so far, with loads of security features. However, now it seems there are a few with a mistake which have made it into circulation, and they could be worth £100s if you've got one.

Changer Checker
Changer Checker ©© Changer Checker/Zeki Atma

According to the Changer Checker blog this 'minting error' £1 coin has the 12-sided design on an 'old' round pound coin! They are reporting they have seen three of these error coins in a week and recently one was sold on eBay for over £200 after 22 bids!

Change Checker/eBay
Change Checker/eBay ©© Change Checker/eBay

Another example of this error is due to go up for auction later this month in London and has been described as an 'exceptional modern rarity'.

Although there has been no official confirmation from The Royal Mint that these coins are genuine, Changer Checker suggests anyone who finds these unusual coins should contact The Royal Mint to have the coin verified, using their free verification service.

See our gallery of special coins below:

Gallery

Special Money - coins and notes

UK Crowned Shield £1 coin1 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 CHANGECHECKER.ORG

UK Crowned Shield £1 coin

Although they are fairly common, they can currently fetch around £3 - £5.50. They are one of the oldest £1 coins around having been minted in 1988, just five years after the £1 coin was introduced.

Edinburgh City £1 coin2 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 CHANGECHECKER.ORG

Edinburgh City £1 coin

This was released in 2011 and is thought to be worth £12 - £16.

Scotland's Thistle and Bluebell £1 coin3 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 CHANGECHECKER.ORG

Scotland's Thistle and Bluebell £1 coin

Even with a mintage of 5.1 million it is worth £3 - £5 to collectors.

Cardiff City £1 coin4 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 CHANGECHECKER.ORG

Cardiff City £1 coin

This coin features the Coat of Arms of Cardiff as the principal focus to represent Wales. It is thought to be worth £11 - £15.

London City £1 coin5 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 CHANGECHECKER.ORG

London City £1 coin

Although more common than the Scottish and Welsh versions it is still worth £5 - £8.

EC and Kew Gardens6 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

EC and Kew Gardens

Dating back to 1992/3 this larger 50p coin (left) was issued to celebrate the British presidency of the council of Europe. No longer in circulation could be worth around £40.The Kew Gardens design was minted to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Only 210,000 coins were made and is now expected to sell on eBay for £70 - £100.

2011 WWF and 2012 The Offside Explained7 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

2011 WWF and 2012 The Offside Explained

2011 WWF design of the 50p (left) can often sell for around £200 to collectors.The Offside Explained 50p apparently regularly changes hands for around £10.

2012 Olympics - Swimmer8 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

2012 Olympics - Swimmer

Early versions of the coin show the swimmer with the water covering their head, however later versions have the lines of water removed.According to eBay only 600 of the early version are in circulation, fetching up to £3000 when they were first placed on eBay.

New fiver9 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 Bank of England [2015]

New fiver (£5)

The new £5 note was released into circulation on the 13th September 2016. Notes with serial numbers starting with AA or AK 47 sold for much more than than their face value.

New tenner (£10)10 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 Bank of England

New tenner (£10)

The new £10 note, featuring Jane Austen was released on 14th September 2017.As before many with the serial number AA or AK 47 were highly sought after as well as those with serial numbers relating to Jane Austen's birthday, date of death, or date the Pride and Prejudice was first published.

Peter Rabbit 50p11 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

Peter Rabbit 50p

The Peter Rabbit collectable coin is available to buy from the Royal Mint.

Benjamin Bunny 50p12 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

Benjamin Bunny 50p

Benjamin Bunny was released earlier this year (2017).

Tom Kitten 50p13 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

Tom Kitten 50p

Tom Kitten was released earlier this year (2017).

Jeremy Fisher 50p14 of 14
CREDIT: u00a9 The Royal Mint

Jeremy Fisher 50p

Jeremy Fisher was released earlier this year (2017).

This isn't the first time there have been 'error' £1 coins, last year we reported about some other £1 coins which were potentially worth a lot more than their face value, due to a dye error. According to Alex Cassidy from GoCompare's Coining It In, the floral crown on the back of the coin should be examined to see if there are any rotations. The Queen's head should also sit directly above the new bevelled edge, so if it doesn't, the coin could be worth more than £1.

See all the features of the £1 below:

In 2016 over 200,000 coins were sent out as test coins and are not legal tender, however they were spotted on eBay selling for over £70!

Now take a look at 12 things you probably didn't know about the £1 coin >>

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