The Official 2020 Change Checker Games!

*** UPDATE ***

Like many of you, we were waiting in high anticipation for the Tokyo Olympics this year, but as we had to wait a little longer, we decided to host our very own Change Checker version of events…

And we’ve now chosen our Bronze, Silver and, Gold prize winners! Simply watch our video below to find out if you’ve won…

Every Friday we’ve been running a different coin-based challenge for you to take part in, which you can see on our Facebook page!

Each video showcased a demonstration of the week’s event and all you needed to do to be in with the chance of winning some incredible prizes was:

  • Watch our weekly video here
  • Have a go at the challenge yourself, and
  • Leave a picture or video of your attempt in the comments on our Facebook post!

For each event, we have chosen a Gold, Silver and Bronze winner, who will each be winning a prize!

Simply watch our video in this blog, or on our Facebook page, to find out if you’ve been chosen as one of our winners!

Bronze: a set of three Change Checker Trading Cards to add to your collection!

Change Checker Games Bronze Prize

Silver: a set of SIX Change Checker Trading Cards to add to your collection!

Change Checker Games Silver Prize

But, last and definitely by no means least, our Gold winners will be taking home an incredible NINE Change Checker Tradings Cards AND a year’s subscription to Coin Collector Magazine!

Change Checker Games Gold Prize

We are so grateful to Coin Collector Magazine for getting involved, so a huge thank you goes to them!

Our Awards Ceremony video is now live on our Facebook channel and you can see it here.

Thanks so much to everyone who took part and congratulations to our winners!

Don’t forget to send us an email at [email protected] to claim your prize!


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

Change Checker Web App Banner 2 Amends 1024x233 1 1024x233 - Your January 2019 Scarcity Index update!

Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app

The Top 5 Coins of the Decade

I still can’t quite believe 2020 is here and we’re into a new decade! But what better excuse could there be to take a look back at some of our favourite coin releases from the past 10 years?

Along with new coins, the numismatic world as a whole seems to have expanded as a new generation of collectors have discovered the joy of this fantastic hobby.

There’s no denying we’ve seen some incredible coins released since 2010, but the Change Checker team have picked out our personal favourite TOP FIVE.

So without any further ado, here are the coins we believe to be the greatest of the past 10 yearsDrum roll please...


1. The London Olympic and Paralympic 50ps

Change Checker Olympic 50p Coin Pack Collection Coins - My TOP FIVE coins of the decade

Issued to mark the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted by London, this coin series played a huge part in transforming the 50p into the UK’s most collectable coin.

29 different 50p coin designs were released to commemorate the different sports and across the nation millions rose to the challenge of collecting them all.

The Royal Mint now estimates that as many as 75% of the Olympic 50p coins have been removed from circulation by collectors, which is a testament to their popularity.

It was certainly the Olympic 50p series that reawakened the nation’s love of coin collecting in the last decade, so we just had to include them at the top of our list!

2. The Beatrix Potter 50ps

AT Beatrix Potter 50p Coins 650x450 1 - My TOP FIVE coins of the decade

Next up is a series which inspired a whole new generation of collectors, and for that reason it would be a crime not to include the Beatrix Potter 50p series on our list.

Just like me, I’m sure you’ll have fond childhood memories of reading the enchanting tales of Peter Rabbit and his friends as a child and this beautiful 50p series really does do justice to those memorable tales.

4 years, and 14 coins later, the Beatrix Potter 50p coins remain one of the public’s favourite ever collection of coins.

Since The Royal Mint released the first Beatrix Potter 50ps in 2016, these charming coins have created a collecting frenzy, becoming increasingly sought-after to this day.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that this is one of the stand-out coin series of all time, let alone the decade!

3. Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th Birthday £5

As a nation, we’ve celebrated Her Majesty the Queen’s landmark birthdays, jubilees and wedding anniversaries during her long and eventful reign.

Traditionally, the Queen’s birthday milestones are celebrated with £5 coins, as seen issued in both 1996 and 2006 to mark her 70th and 80th birthdays.

And so, this decade, when Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to celebrate their 90th Birthday, the release of this £5 coin in 2016 was particularly special and hugely significant for collectors around the world.

This was the only official UK £5 coin to mark this special occasion, designed by acclaimed artist Christopher Hobbs, who captured the Queen’s love of flowers, showing nine roses – one for each decade of the Queen’s life.

4. 2015 Britannia £2

Britannia has a long standing history with British coinage, having featured on a British coin in one way or another for more than 300 years.

In 2008 she was surprisingly dropped from the 50p, despite a Daily Mail campaign to save her. However in February 2015 it was announced that Antony Dufort’s modern interpretation of Britannia would be making a triumphant return to British circulating coins, replacing the definitive £2 “Technology” design which had featured on the coin since 1997.

This was a very popular move from The Royal Mint, but it wasn’t until the mintage figures were announced that the real surprise was unveiled…

Only 650,000 of the 2015 dated Britannia £2 coins had been stuck for circulation, making it one of the rarest UK £2 coins ever!

The rarity and numismatic significance of this coin as the UK’s new definitive £2 means it had to earn a spot on our Top Five list.

5. The A-Z of Great Britain 10ps

In 2018, The Royal Mint sparked huge excitement across the nation with the surprise release of 26 brand new 10p coin designs.

Each coin design was created to represent an image of what makes Britain British from A – Angel of the North, all the way to Z – Zebra Crossing, and collectors quickly fell in love with these unique coins.

Figures for 2018 confirm that 220,000 of each design entered circulation, meaning each design is almost as rare as the Kew Gardens 50p – the UK’s rarest coin in circulation!

A further 2.1 million A-Z 10ps were released in 2019 overall, meaning there really aren’t many to go around and many collectors are struggling to come across them in their change as they are being snapped up so quickly.

The A-Z 10ps really have been one of the biggest numismatic talking points of the decade and so they just had to be included on our list. Have you been lucky enough to find any?

Of course there have been so many other incredible releases in the past 10 years and narrowing it down to just five was a tough job, but we certainly feel that these coins have got to be highlights of the last decade.

Let us know which coins would make it into your Top Five in the comments below!


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

Change Checker Web App Banner 2 Amends 1024x233 1 1024x233 - Your January 2019 Scarcity Index update!

Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app

The 2020 designs – what to expect from next year’s coins

***UPDATE***

As of The Royal Proclamations issued on 11th October 2019, a further two new coins have been confirmed for release next year…

A new £2 coin will be issued to celebrate 100 Years of Agatha Christie’s mystery novels. .

2020 Agatha Christie £2

The design is said to feature a nearly completed jigsaw puzzle with the final piece ready to be inserted, and the inscription ‘1920 100 YEARS OF MYSTERY 2020′.

Agatha Christie published her first novel ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ in 1920, which introduced detective Hercule Poirot, who became a long-running character in Christie’s work. In total, the detective features in 33 novels and 54 short stories!

Following the incredible popularity of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 50p featuring fictional-detective Sherlock Holmes and the Samuel Pepys’ £2 in the 2019 Annual Coin set, we can’t wait to see another great British writer celebrated on UK coinage.

2020 75th Anniversary of VE Day £2

A further £2 coin will also be issued with the inscription ‘VICTORY IN EUROPE DAY‘ to commemorate 75 years since VE Day and the end of the second world war.

VE Day is commonly used to refer to Victory Day in Europe which celebrates the formal acceptance of the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces on 8 May 1945, marking the end of the war.

Featuring a woman holding a newspaper aloft in crowd of celebrating people, set against a backdrop of the word VICTORY, this new £2 coin will mark a pivotal moment in British history.

Excitingly, this new £2 will also have an edge inscription reading ‘JUST TRIUMPH AND PROUD SORROW’.

Remember, you can sign-up for all our latest 2020 coin news using the sign-up for below!


The Royal Proclamation published on 12th July 2019 has officially revealed three new coins which will be released next year...

Last week we shared the news about the 2020 Team GB 50p coin, which is sure to be a firm favourite amongst collectors, especially following the resounding popularity of the 2012 Olympic 50ps.

The new Team GB 50p will be issued by The Royal Mint next year to support Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

However, we also have another two coins to look forward to, including a Mayflower £2 coin and a George III £5 coin.

2020 Mayflower £2

2020 marks the 400th anniversary of The Mayflower’s voyage from Plymouth, England to the ‘New World’ in 1620.

102 Pilgrims and around 30 crew aboard the ship spent two months at sea, battling against the North Atlantic wind on their journey to America.

Upon arrival, the Mayflower Compact was signed, allowing the English Puritan settlers to establish the first permanent New England colony.

To celebrate this important anniversary, The Royal Mint will be issuing a Mayflower £2 coin in 2020.

Mayflower Trial £2

Did you know that back in 1994 The Royal Mint created the first trial bi-metallic £2 coins and these actually featured the Mayflower ship on the design?

There were just over 4,500 packs issued which makes it an incredibly rare example of a bi-metallic £2 coin. More than 100 times rarer than the UK’s rarest £2 coin in circulation, the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games.

Because of this, it can sell on the secondary market for well into three figures.

It will certainly be very interesting to see how the design of the 2020 coin compares to this 1994 trial piece.

2020 George III £5

Next year marks the 200th anniversary since the death of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland.

He ruled the two countries separately until their union in 1801, after which his reign continued until his death in 1820.

George’s life and reign were longer than any British monarch before him, although his last 10 years were fraught with mental illness, resulting in his eldest son George IV ruling as Prince Regent.

To celebrate the life of George III, The Royal Mint will be issuing a new £5 coin in 2020.

Stay up to date with all the latest 2020 coin news…

At the moment the designs are still top secret, but we can’t wait to see what the 2020 coins will look like!

Fill in your details below to be kept up to date with all the latest news about the 2020 coins.

2020 Annual Coins sign up

* indicates required

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

Time for change? What is the future for 1p and 2p coins?

Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app