Posts Tagged ‘Rare’
Look out for these £5 notes ‘worth £20,000’ in circulation!
Four special £5 notes, engraved with a tiny portrait of author Jane Austen, are being put into circulation and could be worth more than £20,000.
Specialist micro-engraver Graham Short came up with the idea of engraving a 5mm portrait of Pride and Prejudice author Jane Austen on the transparent part of the new plastic £5 notes, to mark the 200th anniversary of one of the best-loved English novelists next year.
£5 note 'worth £20,000' in circulation in Kelso. It features art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short https://t.co/dQPv8VOs5k pic.twitter.com/yPMgSiBELO
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) December 7, 2016
He has included a different quote around each one, ensuring that each note is unique. The banknotes to look out for have the following serial numbers: AM32 885551, AM32 885552, AM32 885553 and AM32 88554.
According to Gallery owner Mr Huggins-Haig, artist Graham Short’s work has an insurance valuation of £50,000 so £20,000 for a banknote with his artwork on is a reasonable estimate. Mr Short’s last work, a portrait of the Queen on a pinhead, sold for £100,000.
The first of four notes featuring art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short was found in a cafe in South Wales on 5th December while another was found the same month inside a Christmas card in Scotland. The third £5 note was found by a mystery old lady in Eniskillen in Northern Ireland who has donated it to charity.
So that means there is just one more rare £5 note left to find with the handiwork of Birmingham micro-artist Graham Short. It was spent somewhere in England back in December so for those hunting down the last remaining fiver, the serial number to look out for is AM 32 885554.
Anyone who finds one of the notes has been advised to contact the Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery in Kelso, which launched the project as they will provide advice on how to put the artwork up for auction.
The 2015 Navy £2 is now one of the rarest coins ever!
The £2 coin that commemorates the Royal Navy’s efforts in World War One has just become one of the rarest UK coins in circulation.
The Royal Mint have confirmed that just 650,000 2015 Navy £2 coins have been struck for circulation, kicking the 2002 Commonwealth Games England £2 out of its 3rd place position.
Not only is the Navy £2 coin now the third rarest £2 coin in circulation, it is also the 4th rarest UK coin to date. Click here for the complete Change Checker Guide to UK Coin mintages.
The coin that features a battleship design by military artist David Rowlands and the 5th portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is sure to become extremely sought after.
When it comes to collecting, there is one fact which is always inevitable – the rarest coins are always in highest demand.
So the next time you’re flicking through your coins, remember – all coins are not created equal! There are some you should count yourself lucky to have, and if you come across the 2015 Navy £2 – it might just be worth hanging on to it!
Find, Collect and Swap all of the UK commemorative coins you find in your change for free on the Change Checker app.
Visit www.changechecker.org to give it a go
How rare is my coin? The Complete Change Checker Guide to UK Coin mintages
Have I just found a rare coin? It’s a question which collectors ask daily, and to help answer it, we’ve put together these charts listing each coin in order of its rarity.
The Northern Ireland 2002 Commonwealth Games is the rarest £2 coin currently in circulation – in fact the four designs in the 2002 Commonwealth Games series occupy the top ten list. There were only 485,500 Northern Ireland 2002 Commonwealth Games £2 coins minted, that’s just 0.1% of all the £2 coins ever struck!
Others to look out for include the 2015 Navy £2 and the 2015 Britannia £2, both coins have recently been issued into circulation and share joint third place on our graph.
Themes have followed a similar pattern over the years with the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom being represented in cycles. The rarest One Pound coin currently in circulation is the Edinburgh £1 which was part of the series depicting the capital cities of the UK.
The Edinburgh design is the only £1 coin with a mintage below 1 million and by way of comparison, over 443 million Royal Arms shield £1 coins were issued in 1983. The 2011 Cardiff £1 and the 2010 London £1 follow closely behind, so all very sought after £1 coins to have.
Another coin to look out for is The Royal Arms £1. Although this is a common design which is regularly ignored, make sure to look out for one with a 2008 date – that’s actually the fourth rarest £1 coin.
The rarest coin in circulation, of any denomination, is the Kew Gardens 50p. the Kew Gardens 50p has been valued at up to £50 on online market place eBay. Its status as the most scarce coin has been well publicised, and as a result, many are hoarded by collectors. This chart illustrates just how rare it is compared with other Fifty Pence designs.
The Olympic Fifty Pence series is very popular with Change Checkers, but in terms of rarity, there really isn’t much separating the top 10 designs. The Football ‘Offside Rule’ 50p was certainly one of the most talked about designs, and it also narrowly ranks as the scarcest.
So, keep hold of your coins. You never know what they might be worth in the future! And remember you can Find, Collect and Swap all your coins for FREE with the Change Checker App: www.changechecker.org