Mintages
Rarest UK Coins Revealed! 2020 Mintage Figure Update
One of the biggest numismatic updates of the year comes when the latest mintage figures are announced and today we are very excited to share the updated figures for 2020 circulation coins, which have just been revealed by The Royal Mint!
As the UK’s most collected coin, it’s great to hear that three 50p designs were released into circulation last year. These include the Withdrawal from the European Union 50p, the Diversity Built Britain 50p and this year’s Royal Shield 50p.
We’ve updated the Change Checker 50p Mintage Chart with these new additions to show you which 50ps you should be looking out for:
The rarest of the trio to be released is the Withdrawal from the EU 50p, commonly known as the Brexit 50p, with a circulating mintage of 10,001,000. This is closely followed by the Diversity Built Britain 50p with a mintage of 10,300,000.
These numbers are fairly high for commemorative coins, meaning collectors stand a good chance of finding these ones in their change. What’s more, at 46,540,375 coins in circulation, we expect many collectors to be able to find the 2020 definitive Royal Shield design – just make sure you keep checking the dates on the reverse of your 50ps!
Are you lucky enough to have these in your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
The Royal Mint’s Director of UK Currency, Mark Loveridge, said: “As the original maker of UK coins, we are delighted to play our part in celebrating the story of the nation. In 2020 two important new designs were issued on fifty pences, commemorating British diversity and the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Coin collecting remains a popular hobby in the UK, and finding a special design in your change adds to the excitement.”
What about the Olympic 50ps?
In 2012, the release of the Olympic 50p series kick started a collecting frenzy across the nation.
It’s estimated that around 75% of these coins have been removed from circulation by collectors which means they are incredibly sought-after, especially considering these 50ps have some of the lowest mintage figures in circulation…
Many of the Olympic 50ps have a mintage less than 2,000,000 with the rarest (the Olympic Football 50p) having a mintage of just 1,125,500. See the full mintage figures for these coins here.
Taking these rare 50ps into consideration, the 2018 Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny coins would sit in joint sixth position, below the Kew Gardens, Football, Wrestling, Judo and Triathlon 50ps.
£2 Coin Update
As well as updating the 50p mintage figures, The Royal Mint also revealed that no £2 coins were issued into circulation in 2020.
There have been no new £2 coins issued into circulation since 2016, which may in part be due to the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017.
It was recently confirmed that The Royal Mint has no plans to strike any £2 coins for circulation for the next 10 years, so unfortunately, there may not be any mintage updates for this denomination for a while.
Whilst 88,071,910 1p coins were released in 2020, no 2p coins have entered circulation since 2018, perhaps suggesting it’s time we question what the future has in store for our beloved coppers.
Have you been lucky enough to find any of these coins in your change? It’s always exciting when new mintage figures are revealed and your realise just how rare the change in your pocket really is!
We’ll be updating the Change Checker Scarcity Index this month and it will be exciting to see how these new figures impact the index.
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
New 50p and 10p entries! Your Scarcity Index Update…
It’s time for your latest Scarcity Index update, where we reveal the UK’s most sought-after circulation coins of the last three months! And it’s all change once more, as we see some new entrants to our 50p and 10p Indexes…
Following the confirmation of the 2019 mintages at the beginning of the month, we’ve updated our 50p and 10p index to include the Sherlock Holmes 50p, Paddington at the Tower of London 50p, Paddington at St. Paul’s Cathedral 50p, and we’ve updated the total mintages for the A-Z 10p coins.
Whilst these figures have only just been released and we’ll most likely see the effect this has on the Index in the next quarter, there’s been a lot movement across the board in this update…
A-Z 10p Scarcity Index
There’s been another big mix up in our latest A-Z 10p Scarcity Index, with our biggest climber, Q for Queue, jumping up a huge 13 places!
The Yeoman Warder 10p has also knocked the Tea 10p off the top spot where it was sitting comfortably for the previous two quarters!
We’ve seen the Robin 10p climb four spaces – no doubt due to that incredibly low 2019 mintage of just 64,000. This takes the combined 2018 and 2019 mintages for this coin to 284,000.
In fact, all of the lower mintage A-Z 10ps have shot to the top of the index. The Y, Z, and W 10ps all have a 2019 mintage of JUST 63,000 and now all sit in the top 4!
Regardless of where they feature in the above index, if you have any of the A-Z 10ps in your collection you should consider yourself very lucky. A maximum of only 304,000 of each design entered circulation!
Find out which coins in the series have the lowest mintages here >>
50p Scarcity Index
The top of our Scarcity Index remains consistent with our last update with the Judo 50p sitting just below the Kew Gardens 50p.
However, there’s been a lot of shuffling in the middle and lower third of the index, with the Pentathlon 50p climbing 10 spots and the Taekwondo 50p dropping 10! Last index the Taekwondo 50p climbed 11 so it’s interesting to see it fall back down this quarter.
Now that we have the mintages for the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock) 50p and the 2019 Paddington coins, we’ve seen these enter the index relatively low.
Whilst both coins are relatively common (8,602,000 Sherlock Holmes 50ps entered circulation and 9,001,000 of each 2019 Paddington coins entered circulation) we’re excited to see how the confirmation of their mintages effects their place on our next Scarcity Index update…
£2 Scarcity Index
Once again we’ve seen a reshuffling of the Commonwealth Games coins at the top of the Index, with the Commonwealth Games Wales £2 climbing back into the top 4.
There’s been a fair bit of shuffling around in the rest of the index, with the Florence Nightingale £2 climbing 8 places this quarter! The Act of Union £2 has also dropped 6 places in this update. These are definitely the coins to watch over the next few quarters…
There’s no doubt that the Treasury’s announcement of having no plans to issue any £2 coins into circulation for the next 10 years has caused a bit of shuffling in this index and we’ll no doubt see this effect trickle into the next few updates.
How your Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have had to rely upon mintage figures to identify the scarcest coins. But they only tell part of the story. Trying to find a good quality coin from 15 – 20 years ago, even for a higher mintage issue, is much more challenging than a more recent issue, as coins become damaged over time and are ultimately removed from circulation.
Additionally, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – the poignant First World War £2 Coin series being an example. Finally, it can be up to a couple of years before the Royal Mint eventually confirms the actual mintage for an issue.
That’s why we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information.
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Importantly, as new coins are released and popularity rises and falls across different designs the Scarcity Index will be updated quarterly allowing Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index does not necessarily equate to value but it is certainly an effective indicator. For example, the Kew Gardens 50p coin commands a premium of up to 200 times face value on eBay.
You can use the 6 point guide to help you determine a more realistic value for your coins.
What about £1 Coins?
The £1 Scarcity Index has already been published for the Round £1 coins and, because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone.
Receive new UK coins without the hassle of placing orders on the day of release!
Join the Change Checker UK CERTIFIED BU Subscription Service and receive new UK coins sent to your door without the hassle of placing orders on the day of release!
Don’t miss your chance to get ahead of the crowd and be one of the very first collectors to receive the latest UK new issue coins as soon as possible after their release.
Rarest A-Z 10p coins revealed! 2019 Mintage Figures Update
Exciting news! The Royal Mint have revealed the latest mintage figures for 2019 coins!
Three 50p coins entered circulation in 2019 and collectors across the nation have been debating how rare each one might be.
What’s more, we were all eagerly awaiting the reveal of the mintage figures for the 2019 A-Z 10p coins.
But now the official figures have been revealed and it looks like there are some particularly rare ones we should be looking out for…
The Rarest A-Z 10p Coins!
Whilst each of the 2018 dated A-Z 10p coins had the same mintage of 220,000, this year the mintages are varied among the designs!
Collectors who have managed to find the 2019 dated Q, W, Y, Z, and R 10p coins will be delighted to see that these have a lower mintage than the other 21 designs from that year.
The 2019 World Wide Web, Yeoman Warders and Zebra Crossing 10p coins all have a mintage of JUST 63,000! When you compare that to the rarest 50p in circulation, the Kew Gardens 50p, which has a circulating mintage of 210,000, it puts into perspective just how rare these 10p coins are.
When you combine the 2018 and 2019 mintages for these coins, it confirms that a total of 283,000 of each design has entered circulation.
The other 10p coins to look out for are the Robin and Queuing 10p, with a 2019 mintage of 64,000 and 83,000 respectively.
Are you lucky enough to have these coins in your change? Let us know in the comments below!
50p Mintage Update
Sherlock and Paddington Join the Chart!
The Paddington Bear coins are some of the most popular 50ps in recent years and collectors have been waiting to find out just how rare they are.
It’s now been confirmed that 9,001,000 of each 2019 design (Paddington at the Tower and Paddington at St. Paul’s Cathedral) were issued into circulation.
2019 Paddington at the Tower of London 50p 
2019 Paddington at St. Paul’s Cathedral 50p
Whilst these coins aren’t exactly rare, they are certainly a collector favourite, with children, parents, and 50p collectors alike all wanting to find all four coins from the series in their change. Have you got these coins in your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
The mintage figure for the 2019 Sherlock Holmes 50p has also been confirmed. 8,602,000 of these 50p coins, celebrating the 160th anniversary of the birth of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, were struck for circulation.
What about the Olympic 50ps?
In 2012, the release of the Olympic 50p series kick started a collecting frenzy across the nation.
It’s estimated that around 75% of these coins have been removed from circulation by collectors which means they are incredibly sought-after, especially considering these 50ps have some of the lowest mintage figures in circulation…
Many of the Olympic 50ps have a mintage less than 2,000,000 with the rarest (the Olympic Football 50p) having a mintage of just 1,125,500.
Taking these rare 50ps into consideration, the 2018 Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny coins would sit in joint sixth position, below the Kew Gardens, Football, Wrestling, Judo and Triathlon 50ps.
£2 Coin Update
As well as updating the 50p mintage figures, The Royal Mint also revealed that no £2 coins were issued into circulation in 2019.
There have been no new £2 coins issued into circulation since 2016, which may in part be due to the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017.
It was recently confirmed that The Royal Mint has no plans to strike any £2 coins for circulation for the next 10 years, so unfortunately, there may not be any mintage updates for this denomination for a while.
No 1p or 2p coins entered circulation in 2018 either, perhaps suggesting it’s time we question what the future has in store for our beloved coppers.
Have you been lucky enough to find any of these coins in your change? It’s always exciting when new mintage figures are revealed and your realise just how rare the change in your pocket really is!
We’ll be updating the Change Checker Scarcity Index this month and it will be exciting to see how these new figures impact the index.
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