It’s all change! 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! As we continue to go out and spend more cash, we’ve seen some BIG movers and shakers on our Scarcity Index.

Our 50p index has been given a huge shakeup, with moves across the majority of the board! The same can be said for the £2 Index, with JUST four coins being untouched.

You can use the updated A-Z 10p, 50p and £2 indexes below to discover how sought-after the coins in your collection really are.

This information has been compiled using data from the Change Checker Swap Centre and presented in the easy to use indexes below, with arrows to signify how many places up or down a coin has moved since the last Scarcity Index.

50p Index

May 2022 50p Scarcity Index Update

It’s been a HUGE quarter for our 50p coins with this Scarcity Index update showing nearly all circulating UK 50p coins having moved around!

The Pentathlon 50p has climbed an incredible 12 places, pushing towards the top of our index. This coin has a circulating mintage of 1,689,500 which makes it one of the rarer 50ps in circulation.

Whilst it’s not the rarest Olympic 50p out there, all of these coins are incredibly popular with collectors, and have been since the 2012 Olympic Games!

Other key movers include the Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle 50p which has climbed by 12 places and the Handball 50p which has climbed by 8 places.

£2 Index

May 2022 £2 Scarcity Index

Another big shake up sees just FOUR coins on our £2 Index remain in the same place, with some huge movers causing a shuffle.

The Shakespeares Comedies £2 has been bumped down 12 places and the Gunpowder Plot £2 has climbed an impressive 9 places!

Other key movers to keep your eyes on are the Brunel – Paddington Station £2, which has climbed 9 places and the Florence Nightingale £2, which has climbed by 8.

A-Z 10p Index

May 2022 A-Z 10p Index

As the Change Checker team travelled up north on our Platinum Jubilee 50p coin swap tour, it seems the Lochness Monster 10p was following suit, as it climbs 13 places!

And as we approach the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend, the Jubilee 10p has climbed up towards the top of the index. With growing interest in Jubilee themed coins, including the 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p, there’s no surprises more collectors are wanting to get their hands on this 10p!

Other key movers include the NHS, Angel of the North, and Bond 10p coins, which have all climbed up 4 places.

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!

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.

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NATIONAL PLATINUM JUBILEE 50p for 50p BALLOT ANNOUNCED!

2022 marks Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II‘s Platinum Jubilee – an incredible 70 year reign that makes her the longest reigning living monarch worldwide!

At Change Checker HQ, we’ve been celebrating this royal milestone with the issue of the brand new 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p coin, issued earlier this year.

And today, we’re excited to announce our National Platinum Jubilee 50p for 50p ballot is open!

This was the UK’s first royal 50p and featured a special obverse design of Her Majesty on horsebacknever before seen on a UK 50p!

It was so sought-after that the entire limited edition range sold-out within less than 24 hours at The Royal Mint!

In addition to the 50p coins won in our Face Value Coin Ballot, Change Checker also swapped 7,808 Platinum Jubilee 50p coins at our four Live Coin Swap Events (1,952 coins per event!).

And now, we’re delighted to have opened our National Platinum Jubilee 50p for 50p ballot, in celebration of the UK’s biggest bank holiday, coming in June!

Your chance to own the 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p for JUST 50p

Today, you have the opportunity to enter the Change Checker ballot for the chance to be one of the 1,952 lucky collectors to own this sought-after coin for JUST 50p!

Simply click here to enter for free!

The winners will be contacted via email on the 1st June with details of how to claim your new 50p coin for just 50p.

Best of luck, Change Checkers!


Don’t want to miss out?

Secure the brand new 2022 UK Platinum Jubilee 50p for your collection in Brilliant Uncirculated quality today! Simply click here to guarantee yours for £4.99 (+p&p) >>

Your coin will come struck to a Brilliant Uncirculated quality, protectively encapsulated in official Change Checker packaging – the perfect way to preserve your coin for generations to come!

International Women’s Day! Remarkable Women Celebrated on UK Coins…

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

To celebrate, we’re taking a closer look at just some of the incredible women who have been commemorated on our UK coins!


Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Platinum Jubilee in 2022, making her Britain’s longest reigning monarch and the fourth longest reigning monarch in worldwide history. During her reign, not only did the Queen appear on the obverse of every UK and British Isles coin issued, but she also featured on the reverse several commemorative coins, such as the first ever Royal 50p issued to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.

The first coin issued since her sad passing in September 2022 was the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p, which paid tribute to the much-loved monarch’s life and reign.


Mary Seacole

Nurse and ‘war hero’, Mary Seacole put herself at risk to care for sick and injured soldiers during the Crimean War.

From the age of 12, Seacole helped her mother, a nurse who specialised in traditional Jamaican medicine. Inspired by her mother and following the death of her husband, she focussed on caring for the sick. Her medical expertise was invaluable during the Crimean War, where, along with Thomas Day, she opened a ‘British Hotel’ near the battlefields. She devoted her time and resources to caring for sick and injured soldiers, even riding on horseback into the battlefields under fire to help men from both sides of the conflict.

The Mary Seacole £5 was issued in 2023 in collaboration with ‘The Mary Seacole Trust’ to pay tribute to her dedication to helping others.

The reverse design by Sandra Deiana is based on a genuine photograph of Seacole. The photograph was taken around 1870 and is now held at Winchester College.


Florence Nightingale

Named after the Italian city in which she was born in 1820Florence Nightingale is famous for her work in the military hospitals during the Crimean War where she tended to wounded soldiers.

In 1860 she laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Her book ‘Notes on Nursing’ proved to be influential in changing the way hospitals were run and the role of nurses within them.

2010 Florence Nightingale £2

Released in 2010 to commemorate 150 years of nursing, the Florence Nightingale £2 features a design by Gordon Summers of a nurse taking the pulse of a patient.


Dame Vera Lynn

Coined as the ‘Forces Sweetheart’, singer Dame Vera Lynn rose to fame in 1940 with her wartime songs, White Cliffs of Dover, and We’ll Meet Again. She spent time travelling the world, singing to soldiers who were fighting on front lines, risking her life to inspire others.

Sadly, in 2020, we received the news that Dame Vera Lynn had passed away, and in 2022, she was celebrated on a UK £2 coin. Her life and achievements touched so many lives, and the Queen even sent a private message of condolence to Dame Vera’s family.

The Dame Vera Lynn £2 features a portrait of the famous singer with her signature victory rolls hairstyle on the reverse along with the years of her life 1917-2020, the perfect tribute to one of the UK’s most inspirational women.


Mary Anning

Mary Anning was one of Britain’s greatest fossil hunters and her discoveries were some of the most important geological finds of all time.

Her discoveries of spectacular marine reptiles prompted the scientific community to begin further investigation into explanations for changes in the natural world.

In 2021, a 3-coin series was issued by The Royal Mint to commemorate Anning and her discoveries. These 50p coins, issued in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, feature designs of the Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and, Dimorphodon – all prehistoric giants discovered by Anning on the Jurassic Coast!

Mary Anning was a truly inspiring woman, who pushed for her passion, making important historic discoveries and changes as a result.


Rosalind Franklin

English chemist, Rosalind Franklin sits right at the very heart of the story of DNA. Her ground-breaking research and inspiring work ethic were central to the discovery of the helical structure of DNA, which was later publicised by Watson and Crick.

Tragically, at the age of just 37, Franklin passed away from ovarian cancer, robbing her of the same awards and recognitions that her colleagues received.

In 2020, to celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday, she also became the second scientist to be celebrated in The Royal Mint’s Innovation in Science series.

The reverse design of this coin, by David Knapton, features a depiction of her famous Photograph 51, which enabled her to discover the structure of DNA in her laboratory in Cambridge.


Ada Lovelace

Rosalind Franklin isn’t the only female to feature in the Innovation in Science series…

English mathematician and writer, Ada Lovelace, was commemorated on a UK £2 in 2023 – the 9th coin in the Innovation in Science series.

Lovelace worked closely with Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine and saw limitless potential in the computer. She studied the technology meticulously and discovered there was much more to computers than just calculating mathematical equations. This lead to her being referred to as the first computer programmer. Charles Babbage himself even gave her the nickname ‘enchantress of numbers’.

The reverse design of the Ada Lovelace £2 by Osborne Ross takes inspiration from the original input cards used by Lovelace to programme the Analytical Engine, along with the inscription “a discoverer of the hidden realities of nature”. The quote is a self declared statement taken from a letter that Lovelace wrote to her mother.


Agatha Christie

After the end of the First World War, Christie published her first novel The Mysterious Affair at StylesThis incredibly popular story introduced readers to one of Christie’s most famous characters – Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

Writing well into her later years, Christie wrote more than 70 detective novels as well as short fiction which have been adapted into films, television, and radio programmes. In 1971, she was made a Dame of the British Empire for her outstanding contribution to Literature.

In 2020, to mark 100 years since her first publication, The Royal Mint celebrated the world’s best-selling novelist with a £2 coin. The design, by David Lawrence, pays homage to Christie’s crime novels, with a piece of a jigsaw slotting into place and her signature at the bottom.


Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter truly was a woman ahead of her time. Not only was she an accomplished children’s author and illustrator, she was a passionate and knowledgeable farmer and conservationist – long before it became popular.

However, it’s fair to say her enchanting tales of countryside characters, including Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggywinkle, skyrocketed her to stardom. And in 2016, Beatrix Potter’s life was commemorated on a series of 50p coins.

Between 2016 and 2020, The Royal Mint issued 15 50p coins celebrating beloved characters from some of Potter’s most famous works, but the very first coin in the series was dedicated to Beatrix Potter herself.


There really have been some incredible women celebrated on our UK coins, and this is just a small selection.

Is there an influential women you’d like to see on our coins in the future? Let us know in the comments below!


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