Change Checker LIVE Events are BACK! The Road to the Platinum Jubilee…

In celebration of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, we’ve seen some incredible coin issues mark the occasion.

We even recently heard the very exciting news that an initial 1.3 million Platinum Jubilee 50p coins will enter circulation in the UK on the 7th of February!

To continue the celebrations, Change Checker has been taking the Platinum Jubilee 50p, with that very special obverse, on a tour of the UK.

We’re delighted to announce we’re heading to Newcastle AND Glasgow on our next stop of our tour!

Join us on Thursday 5th May from 9am – 9pm at the Metrocentre in Newcastle and Saturday 7th May from 9am – 6pm at Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow. We’re giving collectors the chance to swap ANY UK 50p coin for the coin of a lifetime, in Brilliant Uncirculated quality.

This version of the Platinum Jubilee 50p won’t be entering circulation, so it’s a great chance to get your hands on it in superior quality for just face value!

We’ll be taking 1,952 coins with us to swap on the day, in tribute to Her Majesty’s Coronation anniversary! Swaps will be limited to one per person whilst stocks last and it will be a strict first come first served basis.

We’ve already visited Oxford and Sheffield on our tour of the UK and there will be other occasions and locations for you to swap your coins, on the countdown to the Platinum Jubilee weekend in June!

Metrocentre, Newcastle

Metrocentre, Newcastle. Site map.

On Thursday 5th May you can find us on the lower level of the Metrocentre, just outside Timpson and Market Cross Jewellers, as highlighted by the pink arrow above.

Inside Metrocentre

Metrocentre is located just off the A1, following signs for Newcastle and Gateshead. If travelling via car, you can use the Sat Nav reference: NE11 9YG to guide you.

The centre is also on the national rail network and has its own train station.

Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow

On Saturday 7th May you can find us on the ground floor of Buchanan Galleries in the North Atrium. We’ll be located just outside John Lewis, as highlighted above with a pink dot.

Buchanan Galleries is located in the heart of Glasgow city centre, on the corner of Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street.

If you’re joining us by car, use G2 3NW as your destination and enter the car park from either Killermont Street or Cathedral Street.

Being in the city centre, it’s very handy to reach via public transport. Buchanan Galleries is located next to Queen Street train station, Buchanan Street subway station and Buchanan bus station. Glasgow Central train station is also just 5 minutes’ walk away.


Register your interest for the Platinum Jubilee 50p Face Value Ballot

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FAQs

Can I swap more than one coin?

Such is the popularity of our Live Coin Swaps and to ensure that it is fair for everybody, we’ll be limiting the number of swaps to strictly 1 swap per person.

Can I reserve a coin before I arrive?

To ensure it is a fair swap event for everyone, we do not offer reservations of coins. It is a strictly first come first served basis.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Secure the 2022 UK Platinum Jubilee 50p in Brilliant Uncirculated quality!

2022 UK Platinum Jubilee 50p

Whilst we hope you’re excited to swap your 50p coin for the brand new Platinum Jubilee 50p at one of our live swap events, if you want to ensure this coin is guaranteed for your collection, you can do so for JUST £4.99 (+p&p) >>

Be sure you don’t miss out!

The Father of Television – John Logie Baird celebrated on UK 50p

It’s hard to imagine life without television but back in the early 1920s, it was a complete unknown.

That was until John Logie Baird successfully produced televised objects in outline in 1924, transmitted recognisable human faces in 1925, and demonstrated the televising of moving objects in 1926.

To celebrate the life and works of the ‘Father of Television’, a brand new 50p in the UK’s Innovation in Science series has been released, designed by Osborne Ross. a London based design agency.

The design features key milestones from Baird’s life, presented between the lines of transmission radiating from the centre of the coin.

To secure this brand new coin for your collection, in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £4.50 (+p&p), simply click here >>

The Father of Television

John Logie Baird demonstrating his mechanical-scan television in 1931. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

At the age of 34, John Logie Baird set about experimenting in television – the start of a passion which was to drive him for the rest of his life.

By early 1925, Baird was successful in demonstrating one of his experiments to the public, in Selfridges’ display window on Oxford Street, London. Bemused shoppers were treated to ‘a recognisable, if rather blurred’, image of simple forms such as letters printed in white on a black card.

Baird’s breakthrough came in 1925 when he produced a recognisable image, complete with shades of grey and in 1926 he gave the world’s first public demonstration of television.

To mark this incredible breakthrough in technology, John Logie Baird now joins the likes of Rosalind Franklin and Stephen Hawking in The Royal Mint’s Innovation in Science series as he’s commemorated on a brand new UK 50p.

Innovators in Science Series

In 2019, The Royal Mint confirmed a new series of coins commemorating some of the most influential Innovators in Science.

2019 Stephen Hawking 50p

The series kick-started with a 50p commemorating Stephen Hawking, less than a year after his death.

2019 Stephen Hawking 50p

Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’ enlightened millions to the workings of the universe and revolutionised the way we understand time and space. As an ambassador for science, his significant contributions to humanity have left a lasting presence on all of us.

The striking design by Edwina Ellis features a stylised black hole to reflect his breakthrough work, as well as an inscription of his name and most notable ‘Bekenstein-Hawking formula’ describing the thermodynamic entropy of a black hole.

2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p

In the year that would have marked her 100th birthday, The Royal Mint released a 50p celebrating the life and crucial work of Rosalind Franklin, the first female scientist to be commemorated on a UK coin.

2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p

David Knapton’s striking design of this coin, features a depiction of Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray, ‘Photograph 51’, which revealed the helical structure of DNA, in her laboratory at King’s College, London.

One of Britain’s greatest scientists, Franklin made a crucial finding to the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA.

Outside of the Innovators in Science series, we’ve seen an impressive selection of engineers and innovations celebrated on our UK coins…

2001 Wireless Transmission £2

In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian physicist, succeeded in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving theories that the curvature of the earth would limit the transmission to 200 miles or less.

The message – simply containing the Morse code signal for the letter ‘s’ – travelled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland in Canada and won him worldwide fame and a Nobel Prize in physics in 1909.

2001 Wireless Transmission £2

This £2 coin was issued in 2001 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this outstanding breakthrough.

4,558,000 of these coins entered circulation.

2004 Steam Locomotive £2

The first steam engine locomotive was built by mining engineer Richard Trevithick and travelled from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales to Abercynon on its first journey in 1804, carrying 10 tons of iron, 5 wagons and 70 people on the 9 mile trip.

2004 Steam Locomotive £2

This £2 coin was issued in 2004 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of this impressive development in transportation.

The reverse design pays tribute to this first engine known as the ‘Pennydarren‘ which started the growth of railway transport in the 19th Century.

5,004,500 of these coins entered circulation. Have you found one?

2006 Brunel £2

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was an English mechanical and civil engineer whose designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

He is perhaps best remembered for the network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts constructed for the Great Western Railway as well as the Clifton Suspension Bridge which crossed the River Avon.

2006 Brunel – Portrait £2

This £2 coin commemorates the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1806 and features a portrait of Brunel against a section of the Royal Albert bridge, wearing a top hat with a trademark cigar in his mouth.

7,928,250 of these coins entered circulation. Have you found this coin in your change?

2006 Brunel – Paddington Station £2

Brunel is perhaps best remembered for the network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts constructed for the Great Western Railway as well as the Clifton Suspension Bridge which crossed the River Avon.

This £2 commemorates the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1806 and features a section of the roof of Paddington Station – one of his most famous works.

7,452,250 of these coins entered circulation in 2006, making it the rarer of the two Brunel £2 coins.


We’re so excited to see the 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p join the marvelous Innovation in Science series and we’re sure this brand new coin will prove incredibly popular with collectors!

Will you be securing these coins for your collection? Let us know in the comments!


Secure the 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p in Brilliant Uncirculated quality!

Own the brand new 2021 UK John Logie Baird 50p in CERTIFIED Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £4.50 (+p&p).

Your superior collector quality coin has been protectively encapsulated in Official Change Checker packaging to preserve for generations to come.

How much is my coin worth? January 2021 eBay Tracker Update!

Good news Change Checkers – your latest eBay Tracker and Valuation Index is here!

Whilst the secondary market can be a bit of a minefield, we’ve put together an easy way for you to see how much the Top 10 UK coins and banknotes are selling for right now.

eBay Tracker

Find out which coins and notes have been the key movers and shakers in the updated eBay Tracker below.

We’ve seen a huge jump in price for the Undated 20p, increasing by a huge £9! This coin dropped in value in the last eBay Tracker so it’s interesting to see it climb to £50 this month.

This coin is regarded by many as the Holy Grail of change collecting, and back in 2008, the undated 20p saga encouraged an entire country to start carefully checking their coins.

Undated 20p

This mule coin came about when the new Royal Shield 20p coins were struck for circulation, with no date on the reverse. The old die was accidentally used, meaning a batch was issued with no date on either side of the coin.

The undated 20p became the first coin in over 300 years to enter circulation without a date and it’s estimated by The Royal Mint that no more than 250,000 coins made it into circulation.

So, there’s no surprises people are prepared to pay a pretty penny on the secondary market to secure one for their collection!

2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p

There’s also been an increase in the sold prices of the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p, jumping up by £6.00.

As the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p is a strike your own version, this indicates that collectors are likely heading to secondary markets to get hold of these types of coins, as The Royal Mint Experience remains closed.

With less cash also being used in the past few months because of the current climate, it’s clear this has influenced collector behaviour on the secondary markets too, as people are unable to exchange coins in the same ways they were previously. This therefore drives the price up, as demand for the coin increases.

Additionally, with more time being spent at home and people seeking new hobbies to keep themselves entertained, new collectors are perhaps becoming more aware of rare and collectable coins that might be worth owning and as a result, are heading to the secondary market to get hold of one.

But will we continue to see the price of this coin rise on the secondary market as we head back to a new kind of ‘normal’? Only time will tell and we’ll have to wait for the next eBay Tracker update to find out!

As collectors are unable to source coins in the usual ways due to the current climate, it’s interesting that we’ve seen some big changes this month, as people head to secondary markets to secure coins for their collection.

Valuation Index

Overall, there’s been a 1.3 point increase value for the Top 10 UK coins and banknotes since June’s update and this is no doubt due to the increase in price for 7 of the coins in the tracker.

After an impressive spike in our last update, we’ve seen another increase in January – taking it to the highest we’ve seen since the Tracker started!

My coin isn’t on the eBay Tracker

The eBay Tracker follows the movements of the Top 10 UK coins and banknotes, however if your coin doesn’t appear on the tracker you can use our 6 point guide to help determine realistic a value for your coin.

So now that you’re up to date with our latest eBay Tracker, will you be selling any of the coins in your collection or will you continue to save them? Let us know in the comments below.

How does the eBay Tracker work?

The Change Checker eBay Tracker takes the last 9 sold prices achieved on eBay and gives the median price achieved (rounded to the nearest 50p). By taking the median, rather than an average, we avoid skewing created by one or two excessive prices achieved.

Please note that the Change Checker eBay Tracker is only ever designed to be a guide as to prices achieved on eBay. Prices may vary depending on collector demand and the quality of the coin being sold. It does not provide any guarantee as to future values of coins.


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

January 2019 eBay Tracker Update