Related Articles
A rare two-pence coin has become very sought-after by collectors.
The coin first entered circulation in 1989 and has been selling among collectors for more than a decade.
It’s considered ‘valuable’ because it was the product of an error, The Mirror reports.
This is because it was struck onto the nickel-plated steel base of a 10p instead of the copper-plated steel used for 2p coins.
This meant all of the coins produced came out in silver, instead of copper.
In January 2020, one owner sold the coin for £485 on Gumtree.
It’s not the first time someone’s found a ‘silver’ 2p either.
Back in 2016, another one sold for £1,350 after being donated to charity by an anonymous donor.
The 2p was almost thrown away, after being thought to be a fake, but after Royal British Legion volunteers in Wiltshire took it to a bank, they discovered it was incredibly rare.
At the time, Charles Vernon, treasurer of the legion in Malmesbury, said he and his wife spotted the “odd” coin when the collection was being counted.
“When we tried to put it in the 10p pile it didn’t fit – it was an anomaly and stood out,” he said.
Anyone who orders £10 or more worth of pizza from Domino’s will be paid £10 in cashback from Topcashback.
To get the deal, sign up to Topcashback for free here.
Then, simply order your pizza and receive £10 off the order. If you order the large pizza with two sides, the cashback will cover the cost of the large pizza entirely.
It’s since been handed to The Westminster Collection, a company which specialises in collectable coins and stamps.
A third “silver” 2p coin sold for £1,357 at auction in 2014 – and a few more are believed to be out there, sitting in jars of foreign currency, piggy banks or piles of old, unusable money.
But what makes a coin so valuable and what are the signs to watch out for?
The Royal Mint implements a strict quality control system, meaning ‘mules’ are very rarely found in general circulation – hence why ‘error’ coins are so treasured.
How would you like to join The Secret Elves Club, a community of more than 100,000 Elves who get excited about Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Bonfire Night and everything in between?
Each week, this lucky bunch of Elves receive the best shopping deals and money-saving tricks and tips direct to their inbox.
By signing up you will receive a newsletter from our two resident elves, Elf Alan and Elf Amy. These two get excited about everything!
Click here to sign up to The Secret Elves Club.
Speaking on how to spot a rare coin, Philip Mussell, director of Coin News, said: “One is when a mistake is made by the Royal Mint, like a 20p without a date, for example, or a 1983 2p coin accidentally printed with the old wording ‘New Pence’. Mistakes are eminently collectable.”
“Other collectibles are redesigns or limited edition releases. For example, an Olympic 50p with a swimmer was recently re-released.
“The first minting had a swimmer with waves obscuring her face but the designer didn’t want that, so they unobscured her face and made it clear of wavy lines. That’s now quite collectable.”
