Posts Tagged ‘Coin Collector’
The Snowman™ returns for 2019! New Christmas 50p released…
Christmas really has come early this year as the brand new The Snowman™ 50p coin has just been released!
So cosy up by the fire and bring out the mince pies as we take a look at this season’s must-have Christmas coin…
I’m sure we all have heart-warming memories of The Snowman™ story, and for me Christmas really doesn’t start until I’ve snuggled up on the sofa with all the family to watch the festive film.
Now that the new 50p has been released, I’m sure you’ll agree that this coin really has brought the magic of the loveable Snowman to life!
The reverse design has been created by Snowman Enterprises themselves to truly capture the festive magic of the story, and features The Snowman and James from Raymond Brigg’s classic tale.
Issued to continue the 40th anniversary of The Snowman celebrations, this new coin is the second Christmas 50p ever to be issued in the UK.
Last year’s Snowman 50p from The Royal Mint was incredibly popular with collectors and created a flurry of excitement surrounding the snowy coin.
In fact, the Silver Proof version completely SOLD OUT on the first day of issue!
Whilst the 2018 release marked the first time that The Snowman has appeared on a UK coin, it’s actually not the first time that this frosty friend has appeared on a 50p…
Over the years, The Snowman has featured on a number of different 50ps from The Isle of Man, some of which are incredibly sought after.
One such coin from 2003 featuring James and The Snowman recently sold for over £250 on the secondary market! Not a bad return on a 50p coin!
But will the UK’s 2019 The Snowman 50p featuring these much loved characters be equally as popular with collectors?
Let us know what you think about this year’s Christmas coin in the comments below!
Secure this season’s must-have 50p!
This brand new UK 50p is a commemorative issue only which means you won’t be able to find one in your change!
So don’t miss out on your chance to add one to your collection and secure yours for JUST £4.50 (+p&p) today.
The 2019 Gruffalo and Mouse 50p
Have you heard the story about the mouse who took a walk in the deep dark wood and ended up on a Gruffalo® 50p coin?
Following on from the original 2019 Gruffalo 50p, the second coin to feature the monstrous character also includes the wonderfully cunning Mouse from Julia Donaldson’s book.
This mouse might be small in stature, but the Gruffalo and Mouse 50p coin beautifully captures the full details of the brave little character from the nation’s favourite bedtime story.
The reverse of the coin was created by Magic Light Pictures, who also designed the first coin, released in February 2019.
Since The Royal Mint announced a second Gruffalo coin, collectors were were wondering what might feature on the new coin – from the fox to the owl and all the creatures that live in the deep dark wood.
But I’m sure you’ll agree that the choice to feature the Mouse resulted in a fantastic coin designed to illustrate the classic story of The Gruffalo.
In recent years, 50ps themed around children’s literature have inspired a whole new generation of collectors, with new coin releases appealing to families, youngsters and fans of books, as well as traditional collectors.
The Gruffalo is no exception, and the release of the first coin at the start of 2019 sparked huge excitement across the UK.
So much so in fact, that the Silver Proof version of the coin SOLD OUT at The Royal Mint in just a few hours!
With over 13.5 million copies of The Gruffalo sold worldwide, the collectability of this coin is undeniable and I’m sure that collectors will be keen to get their claws on this one (warts and all!)
Rarest 50ps Revealed! 2018 Mintage Figure Update
Exciting news! The Royal Mint have revealed the latest mintage figures for 2018 coins!
Seven 50p coins entered circulation in 2018 and collectors across the nation have been debating how rare each one might be.
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 Beatrix Potter 50ps
Collectors who have held on to their 2018 Beatrix Potter 50ps will be delighted to see that these coins have lower mintages than any of the previous Beatrix Potter coins issued in 2016 and 2017.
In fact, three out of the four Beatrix Potter 50ps released in 2018 are even rarer than the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p – previously thought of as the rarest Beatrix Potter 50p in circulation!
With a mintage of just 1,400,000 the 2018 Peter Rabbit and 2018 Flopsy Bunny 50ps are sure to become incredibly sought-after amongst collectors, as they take joint second spot on our mintage figure chart (which excludes Olympic 50ps).
These two coins, alongside the 2018 Mrs Tittlemouse (mintage: 1,700,000) have pushed the 2017 Sir Isaac Newton (mintage: 1,801,500) off the podium.
Whilst the 2018 Tailor of Gloucester has a slightly higher mintage at 3,900,000 the other three coins in the 2018 series have only been pipped to the post by the UK’s rarest 50p in circulation, the Kew Gardens.
With a mintage of 210,000 this 50p is considered the holy grail of change collecting and dominates the Change Checker mintage figure charts and Scarcity Index.
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 last year.
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.
The new definitive £2 was released in 2015, replacing the Technology £2 with a Britannia design, but for the past two years it seems there has not been enough demand to issue this coin for circulation.
In fact, aside from the £1 coin, no new definitive coins were released at all last year, from the 1p to the £2 coin.
A-Z 10p update
Despite no definitive 10p coins entering circulation in 2018, The Royal Mint have confirmed mintage figures for the highly popular A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins.
From Angel of the North to Zebra Crossing, 26 new 10p designs were released in 2018 to celebrate what makes Britain British.
Initially, 2.6 million of these coins were released, followed by another 2.6 million later in the year.
However, up until now the individual mintages for each design had not been confirmed.
The mintage figure update now reveals that 220,000 of each design entered circulation in 2018, which makes the individual 2018 10p coins almost as rare as the Kew Gardens 50p…
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 next 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