The Top 7 coins for your kids to collect this summer
With the summer holidays in full swing, what better time could there be to introduce coin collecting as a hobby for your kids?
Not only is it free, fun and flexes their mental muscles, it’s also a great hobby for the whole family to get involved in.
From British history to influential figures and even favourite book characters, the different coins your family can find in your change feature a whole host of fascinating themes to discover.
But which ones should you be looking out for this summer?
We’ve put together a list of the top 7 coins for your kids to collect over the holidays, so let us know if you manage to find them all!
1) Sherlock Holmes 50p
A great coin to kick start your family coin hunt is the Sherlock Holmes 50p.
This coin was released in 2019 to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and prolific writer of detective stories.
The iconic profile of Sherlock Holmes can be seen in the middle of the coin, surrounded by the titles of Doyle’s stories – but you might need a magnifying glass to read them!
Over the summer is the perfect time for your kids to inspect their change and become detectives to track down this new coin!
2) Great Fire of London £2
The detailed image on this coin really brings to life the history behind one of the most well-known disasters to hit London, The Great Fire.
Issued in 2016 to mark the 350th anniversary of the disastrous event, this coin is a great way for children to learn about our country’s history.
Interestingly, it was originally thought that 5,135,000 Great Fire of London £2 coins were issued for circulation, but recently these figures have been corrected and it turns out that only 1,625,000 actually entered circulation.
So it will be a fun challenge to see if your family can find one of these coins in your change over the summer.
3) 2016 Peter Rabbit 50p
Everyone loves Peter Rabbit! In fact, Peter Rabbit is so popular that he’s the only character to feature on the Beatrix Potter 50p coins FOUR TIMES!
This coin is from the 2016 series – the first coins issued to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth.
When these adorable 50ps were released they caused a collecting frenzy, with collectors and fans of the Beatrix Potter tales scouring their change to find them.
The fact that we’ve now seen three full series and an extra Peter Rabbit 50p coin this year just goes to show how popular these coins are and how they’ve inspired a new generation of collectors.
4) Gunpowder Plot £2
Another coin marking a key historical moment is the Gunpowder Plot £2, issued in 2005 to commemorate 400 years since Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
If your family manage to find this one in your change, make sure you look out for some of the unusual spelling mistakes in the edge inscription.
The timeless quote “Remember, remember the fifth of November” has been found with various combinations of Pemember, Pemembep, Novemebep and so on.
The common factor here is the ‘R’ which appears as a ‘P’ due to the down-stroke of the R coinciding with the milling around the edge, and as the coin has worn over time, the letter has become less defined.
5) Team GB 50p
This 50p was struck in 2016 to wish Team GB good luck in the Rio Olympics.
Back in 2012, the London Olympics were celebrated with a series of 29 Olympic 50ps which created a flurry of collecting across the nation!
Olympic 50ps are some of the most sought-after coins you can find in your change, so make sure you take a look to see if you can find all 29 different sports.
Many consider the Team GB 50p to be the 30th Olympic 50p and, excitingly, the recent Royal Proclamation has revealed that next year a brand new Team GB 50p will be issued for the Tokyo Olympics as well!
6) Paddington™ at the Station 50p
Do you remember Michael Bond’s classic story about the friendly bear from Peru who came to London?
In 2018 two Paddington 50p coins were released to celebrate the 60th anniversary since this British bear’s first book appearance.
This coin was the first to be released, showing the bear sat on his suitcase at Paddington Station, based on the CGI adaptation from the 2014 film.
Whether you remember the books, or your kids are fans of the films, I’m sure your whole family will love finding this coin in your change.
And what’s more, two new Paddington coins are set to be released this year as well!
7) A-Z of Great Britain 10p
Perhaps some of the most exciting coins to be issued in recent years are the A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins.
These are the first UK commemorative 10p coins ever issued and each one features a different Great British icon from A-Z .
With 26 different designs to find, it can be a tricky challenge to track them all down, but why not set the challenge to try and find the first letter of your name on a 10p coin?
You can find out all about the different designs here.
10 Top Tips for Collecting:
- Ask family and friends to help look out for coins
- Try collecting as a group and working as a team
- Pay with cash when you’re out and about so that you receive change
- Let people know what coins you’re looking for. Adults can post on the Change Checker Community Facebook group
- Check everywhere! In the house, down the back of the sofa, piggy banks, in the car…
- Ask for specific change from shops
- Ask your local shop to look out for specific coins for you
With so many wonderful coins in circulation, it won’t take long for you to start building your collection using these Top Tips.
We’d love to hear how you get on with your coin hunting over the holidays, so make sure you leave us a comment below with the coins you’ve been lucky enough to find!
Best of luck Change Checkers!
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
How can I get my hands on British territory coins since I would prefer not to shell out on low mintage coins when I can find them myself, but finding them is proving to be a really tough challenge. Also is there any way to get the old round pound coins without having to pay a lot of money for them (and only having one double to trade) because I only need 13 more of the ones that were in circulation. Final question if I’m to find the British territory round pound coins will they be easier to find at the territory or not since recently the 12 sided pound coin went global?
Hi Alex, British Territory coins are hard to find due to the fact that they are not legal tender in the UK, although they do sometimes turn up in our change. As you say, they also have very low mintage figures. If you don’t want to pay to get hold of these coins, you might have luck using Facebook coin groups such as the Change Checker Community to swap coins with other collectors. Simply share a post with the coins you have available to swap and say which coins you’re looking for to see if any other collectors can help you out. Make sure you always include a photo of your coins with a handwritten name and date to prove that they are genuine. The 12-sided £1 hasn’t yet been released in British Territories, so for now you should be able to find the round pound coins when visiting them. I hope that helps!
Offer for a set of a to z coins and album in what’s on TV 3_9Aug edition for £55 +postage of ordered before 15 June.?
A bit out of date offer,
Tried change checker site and cannot find offer.
How do I get it?
Hi Bryan, apologies about that. The reply by date was printed in error. If you contact our customer services team they will be able to help you place this order.
Going to throw a party!
After the release (or not) of the 10p letter coins in 2018, I have received the letter C, bringing my total to 1.
That didn’t take long, at this rate I should have the complete set around 2046 or so, woo hoo ?
Really hope you manage to come across some more soon Tom.
Still have not seen the new lettered 10p in Bournemouth, what is going on?
Hi Phil, I’m in Poole and haven’t found any in my change either. There are 7.3 million of them out there somewhere, but they are proving really tricky to find!
Hi
I live in Warwickshire and I haven’t found any of the new lettered 10p either I was wandering if they were only released in certain parts of the country
Hi Bernadette, the A-Z 10ps have been released into circulation based on demand. Banks, Post Offices and Cash Distribution Centres draw off stocks from The Royal Mint when they run low of a certain denomination, so it may be that some areas have higher demand for 10ps than others. Now that the coins have been in circulation for over a year, I’m hopeful that they will start finding their way to all different parts of the country, however I think anyone lucky enough to spot one is mostly likely going to hold on to it. Best of luck finding one.