September 2017 Video Newsletter

September has been a great month for Change Checkers!

The Bank of England released a new UK bank note into circulation. The Royal Mint also released a new 50p and £2 coin and we were lucky enough to interview a Royal Mint coin designer.

Watch as Yasmin and Luke discuss all the latest change collecting news:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTNsDL6wThI&w=560&h=315?rel=0]

Will the Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin become more scarce than the Kew Gardens?

It’s been reported in the media this week that the Sir Isaac Newton coin will become the most scarce 50p in UK circulation.

Will the Sir Isaac Newton 50p become the rarest coin in UK circulation?

A number of outlets have suggested that only 375 coins will be released giving it a mintage figure 560 times less than the Kew Gardens 50p coin.

An unspecified number of Sir Isaac Newton 50p coins were released into circulation in June

However, we can confirm that this is not the case.

For starters, back in June an unspecified number of Isaac Newton coins were released into circulation. Based on the number of reports we’ve had from Change Checkers, we would estimate that this initial release was in the thousands.

It is true that The Royal Mint are releasing a small amount of Sir Isaac newton 50p coins at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire this week. However, the decision to release a low number coins at the birthplace of Newton is to commemorate the 375th anniversary of the scientist’s birth and is not the total amount that will enter circulation.

Further Sir Isaac Newton coins will be released, in a recent press statement The Royal Mint confirmed, “Members of the public from across the UK can expect to see the circulating edition of the coin in their change over the forthcoming months.”

However, at this stage it is impossible to say when and how many of the remaining Sir Isaac Newton 50p coins will enter circulation. The release of circulation coins is driven by demand from the banks.

It is quite possible that this coin will have a low mintage figure, maybe even less than 210,000, the number of Kew Gardens 50p coins. However, based on previous commemorative coin releases, we believe this to be unlikely.

Either way, we hope you have good luck in your search!


We’d love to know if you’ve found the Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin in your change. Let us know by answering our poll:

[polldaddy poll=9839470]

A new Polymer Jane Austen £10 note has sold for £3,600!

On the day the new Polymer £10 note was released, we published a blog detailing which of the new Polymer Jane Austen £10 notes you should all be looking out for.

We predicted that notes which feature key Jane Austen dates, such as the year of her birth and death, will prove to be very popular with collectors…and it seems that we were right!

A Polymer £10 note with serial number AH17 75 (the year of Jane Austen’s birth) has sold on eBay for a whopping £3,600 – 360 times face value!

A Polymer Jane Austen has sold for £3,600

As expected, notes whose serial number starts with AA (the first off the press) are also proving very popular; AA01 notes have sold for between £40-£70 on the auction site.

AK47 notes are also catching the eye of collectors with these selling for between £20 – £40.

Bank of England Charity Auction

On the 6th October, Spink and Son auctioneers will be selling some of the very lowest serial numbered Polymer £10 notes on behalf of the Bank of England. All money raised from the sale will be donated to three charities: Candleighters, Haven House Children’s Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support.

In total they are 137 lots with the lowest serial numbered note AA01 000010 estimated to fetch between £2,000 – £3,000. The highest serial number in the auction is AA01 002016 which is expected to be sold for between £200 – £300.

The lowest serial numbered note is expected to be sold for between £2,000 – £3,000

There is also a sheet of 54 £10 notes available to bid on and this could reach between £4,500 -£6,500!