In today’s time, there are almost three billion coins that are in circulation in the only United Kingdom. The Royal Mint is actively producing coins since 886 AD and this is the reason the public around the country has old UK coins with them.
Some coins among them may be the rare coins England and they might be of very much value. When the question arises about the valuable coins there are rare two pounds, 50 pence pieces, and also many more that are in circulation.
But there are also the rare coins among them that are currently of no use. You cannot aware of old coin UK that holds so much value. These rare coins of England may be hiding beneath your sofa or lying unnoticed in your drawer.
Many people have the habit of collecting rare uk coins and have been doing such all their lives. Some people have been handed rare coins. The decimal system used today is in use since 1971 and since then the shapes and sizes of the coins that are used daily have changed. The bimetallic £2 coin that is in circulation is only about 20 years old.
1927 George V Sovereign
Before the war, having gold coins in one’s change was considered as luxury and privilege. Then, during and after the war, this was considered impractical because of the funds that were needed to survive the war. As a result, the royal mint ceased issuing the sovereigns in 1917 for circulation purposes. Most of the leftover sovereigns were sent to the United States to pay off the war debt.
Penny, 1933
Penny 1933, is one of the most famous rare uk coins that were produced in the UK. According to the Royal Mint’s records, six went struck, three went under the fountain stones of popular buildings and three would go to national collections.
But since the penny was an ordinary circulating coin, this might have sneaked out into circulation and the public looked through their change before the decimalization with the hope of finding one more.
The Coinage of Edward VIII
Edward VIII had ascended the throne only for a short while and as a result, there were no coins that had his effigy imprinted for circulation. But during his lifetime there were a handful of trial pattern pieces that were made with his effigy.
These limited coins are also among the rare coins of England and the Royal Mint sold these Edward VIII sovereigns for £1 million and set a new UK record.
Queen Anne Vigo Five-Guinea
The Vigo five-guinea coins were made from gold bullion and they were only made in only a handful.
They are one of the rare coins of England and were captured by the British fleet at the Battle of Vigo Bay in northern Spain.
In an auction in New York, one of these coins valued at £703,000 and got sold at the same rate too.
Una and the Lion
This is a five-pound piece made of gold in the year 1839. But they are not as rare as the Edward VIII patterns. These are not only old coins of the UK but also one of the most beautiful coins in the world.
This coin has William Wyon’s famous Young Head portrait of Queen Victoria William on one side and on the other side, there is a visual of the queen as Una guiding the British lion.
These coins were produced in only a few hundred. But multiple variations can be found in the surviving pieces.
The variations include different types of metals, different types of edge, and different ornamental patterns on the queen’s hairbands.
1983 New Pence 2p coin
The 2p New Pence coin is one of the well-known rare uk coins. These coins value between £1,000 and £1,350. These coins are not collector coins and thus might not sound as attractive to non-collectors.
These coins were minted between February 1971 and 1982 and there is “New Pence” inscribed on the front and the ones that are minted after 1982 have “Two Pence” written on it.
However, in the year 1983, a batch was mistakenly printed with the old words “New Pence” and these coins became collector coins thus making collectors run after them.
Football European Championships Gold Proof
Among all the old coins of the UK, these coins have a football imprinted on it. The date and 16 small circles signify all the countries that took part in the European championship football tournament held in the year 1996. Only 2100 of these coins were minted.
Kew Gardens x 50p Coin
They were 50p coins and only 210,000 were circulated thus making them rare uk coins. Since the mintage numbers were low, the collectors stopped the circulation of the coins.
But, in the year 2019, a new edition of this coin was released to celebrate the 50 years of the 50p British Culture Set.
Collector Coins
Apart from all these types of coins, there are also collector coins. Collector coins can be called as numismatic or numismatist. This means the study or collection of currency. Collector Coins may include tokens, paper money, coins, and medals too.
Collector coins may not necessarily be used commercially. Persons who study or collect such coins are called a collector. They may do it for passion or even as a profession. Among the first known coin collectors was the Roman Emperor Augustus.
He reigned for forty years from 27 BC-AD 14. Nowadays many celebrities or personalities also have the habit or passion for collecting rare uk coins. This is also considered as a wise investment. Also, there are many online auctions where one can buy or sell coins.
So, we have discussed few facts about the rare Uk coins and also about collector coins. There might be coins that are not in circulation today but, has the possibility to wind up in your possession. Make the best use of it.