Is your 20p coin worth hundreds?

By Kate | September 25, 2024 |

You might want to double check the 20p coins in your change, as one of them just might be worth 6,800 times its face value! A rare 25p coin which made its way into one man’s change in Wiltshire several years ago was put up for auction on 25th September 2024, and sold for a whopping £1,700!

Rare 25p Trial Coin Image
Image Credit: RWB Auctions https://www.rwbauctions.com/

What is a 25p coin?

It’s thought that the 25p coin was made as a trial coin by The Royal Mint before the 20p denomination was official released into circulation in 1982. It’s not known exactly how many of these coins were produced, however experts say that there is likely no more than 50 in circulation. This makes it even rarer than the undated 20p, considered by many as the ‘holy grail’ of change collecting.

The undated 20p has no date on either the obverse or reverse

In terms of shape, the 25p coin looks almost identical to a normal 20p coin, but look a little closer and you’ll see it features a different design. A shield can be seen on one side with the inscription ‘EXPERIMENTAL COIN’ and the year 1981, and the Sovereign’s Orb on the other with the inscription ‘ROYAL MINT TRIAL’.

Trial pieces like these that are sometimes known as ‘pattern coins’, are extremely rare and the chances of one making its way into circulation is even rarer. This makes them incredibly sought after by collectors, especially as this one can be so easily mistaken for an ordinary 20p coin.

Worth a small fortune

This particular 25p coin was listed as part of a specialist sale of historic and modern currency organised by RWB Auctions.

Due to its rarity, experts estimated that the 25p coin would fetch between £500 and £700 at auction, however it actually ended up selling for £1,700 – that’s 6,800 times its face value!

The auction house has previously sold rare coins for huge sums of money, including a scarce Lord Kitchener £2 for £1,000 and a rare 2009 Olympic Athletics 50p for £1,500.

Just 100,000 special edition Blue Peter coin packs were released with the 2009 dated Olympic Athletics coin – making it the only Olympic 50p without a 2011 date