Posts Tagged ‘2014’
Revealed: The UK’s rarest £5 Coin
It has now been revealed that the UK has a new ‘rarest’ £5 coin!
The £5 coin that commemorates the last Stuart Queen, has just become the rarest UK £5 coin – knocking the 2011 Prince Philip £5 off the top spot.
The £5 coin commemorates the 300th Anniversary of the death of Queen Anne – the first queen of Great Britain who left behind political stability and prosperity. The design bears an elegant portrait of Queen Anne, styled by Mark Richards FRBS as an eighteenth-century miniature.
It was likely to have been popular with historians when it was released in 2014 but just 12,181 of these coins were struck in Brilliant Uncirculated presentation packs making it the rarest UK £5 coin ever.
If you want to know exactly how rare your £5 coins are, you can read our previous blog here >>
The 2014 Queen Anne £5 – the UK’s rarest £5 Coin
And the announcement of this coin as the UK’s new rarest £5 coin reiterates the point that a less interesting theme or design on a coin, can be a real hidden gem for coin collections.
Let me explain…
It’s obvious that popular coin issues create instant and on-going demand for a coin, but the same can be said for ‘less interesting’ coin designs. This is because the less coins that are sold, the lower the final number of units that are available to future collectors.
The 2011 Prince Philip 90th Birthday £5 has a mintage of just 18,730 and is now the 2nd rarest UK £5 Coin.
But whilst most collectors would shy away from unpopular themes, it is these very coins that are likely to become the most sought after in years to come. And this 2014 Queen Anne £5 is a prime example along with the 2011 Prince Philip £5 coin.
The Prince Philip £5 coin is extremely sought after by collectors and is virtually impossible to get hold of on the secondary market, so it is very likely that the same will happen with the 2014 Queen Anne £5. In fact, sold listings on eBay show that the Prince Philip £5 coin regularly fetches in excess of £50.
So if you’re lucky enough to have the 2014 Queen Anne £5 coin in your collection, make sure you keep hold of it. Demand for this coin is likely to increase dramatically.
And remember, when it comes to collecting, there is one fact which is always inevitable –the rarest coins are always in highest demand.
Unfortunately we do not have any 2014 Queen Anne £5 coins to offer you today but if you’re interested, the 2017 UK Prince Philip CERTIFIED BU £5 Coin is available to order.
Could this new 2017 UK Prince Phillip coin have an even lower mintage?
Will Trinity House be the next Kew Gardens?
As 2014 draws to a close, it gives us an opportunity to reflect on what has proven to be a memorable year for coin collectors. But will any of this year’s five commemorative designs be hot property in the future?
Commonwealth Games 50p
The Commonwealth Games have a long standing history with British coinage, and this year for the first time the Games were commemorated on a 50p coin. This striking reverse design featuring two athletes set against the Scottish saltire was being found in change all over the country during the Games in July. Thousands of swappers also took advantage of our very first Swap 50p for 50p offer to get their hands on one!
The First World War £2
Arriving to much fanfare in November was the first issue in the Royal Mint’s five year programme of £2 coins commemorating the centenary of the First World War. The highly anticipated design featuring Lord Kitchener is certainly recognisable, but the high number being found in change recently would seem to suggest a plentiful supply.
The Scottish and Irish floral £1 coins
In recent years, the mintage of new issue £1 coins has dropped significantly and the final two coins in the floral series look to be no exception. The designs representing Scotland and Ireland have so far been tricky to find, but it seems they have only very recently entered general circulation.
Trinity House £2
And that just leaves the Trinity House £2. To date, we haven’t seen any in our change and not a single photo has surfaced from our thousands of eagle-eyed Facebook fans. It’s early days to be labelling this as a scarce coin and until the mintage figures are released we are only speculating – but it looks like this may be a coin to keep hold of…if you can find one!
Over 20% OFF the 2014 Royal Mint BU Pack
Have you found all the coins for 2014?
Don’t worry if not – you can own them all in this year’s Brilliant Uncirculated pack. Now available with £10.50 off the usual price! Click here to reserve yours.
Royal Mint announce new coins for 2014…
The new UK coins for 2014 have been revealed, and are set to enter circulation this year. Here we take a closer look at the themes behind them, and why 2014 is another significant year for the coinage of the United Kingdom.
This new WWI £2 will enter circulation in 2014
£2 – The First World War
2014 will of course be the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, and the Royal Mint has committed to a five-year commemoration of the emotive wartime journey from outbreak to armistice. It starts with a £2 coin bearing sculptor John Bergdahl’s depiction of Lord Kitchener’s unmistakable call to arms. The image of the British Secretary of War and his finger pointing at the reader still evokes an enormous sense of British identity and pride, and the coin also features the immortal words YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU.
Trinity House celebrates its 500th anniversary in 2014
£2 – Trinity House
Since being granted a Royal Charter in 1514 by Henry VIII, Trinity House has safeguarded the coastal waters of Britain for over 500 years. Maritime safety became crucial in the 16th Century as Britain began flexing its naval strength overseas. And today, with 95% of the UK’s imports still arriving by sea, the Trinity House pilot ships and lighthouses are still as important today as ever. The reverse design of this new £2 coin features a striking depiction of a lighthouse lens – an enduring symbol of the the safety which Trinity House still provides at sea.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow
50p – Commonwealth Games
In 1986 the Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, and the £2 of that year became the first coin in British history to commemorate a sporting event. Now, as Scotland gears up for the Games again in 2014, a new 50p to mark the occasion has been announced. The 20th Commonwealth Games will see thousands of athletes competing in 17 sports across 11 days in Glasgow. In this new reverse design, two of the most iconic sports – athletics and cycling – have been combined with a section of the St Andrews cross.
£1 – Floral Emblems
2013 saw the start of a £1 coin series celebrating the floral emblems of the British Isles designed by Timothy Noad. Completing the series in 2014 is the flax plant and shamrock to represent Northern Ireland, whilst the thistle and bluebell are portrayed on the Scottish version.
You can now collect all five designs straight from your change with the FREE Change Checker 2014 Coin Collecting Pack.
