Posts by Change Checker
Everything you need to know about the Jane Austen Polymer £10 banknote…
The Bank of England officially revealed the new £10 polymer banknote in a ceremony at Winchester Cathedral – the burial place of Jane Austen, on the 200th anniversary of her death.
Winchester Cathedral- where Jane Austen is buried.
What does it look like?
The new £10 note features a portrait image of Jane Austen (commissioned by her nephew James Edward Austen Leigh in 1870), alongside the famous quotation from her novel Pride and Prejudice: ‘I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
The new Polymer £10 note features Jane Austen (Image: Bank of England)
Jane Austen’s writing table – the central design in the background is inspired by the 12 sided writing table, and writing quills, used by Jane Austen at Chawton Cottage. An illustration of Miss Elizabeth Bennet undertaking “The examination of all the letters which Jane had written to her” from a drawing by Isobel Bishop (1902-1988) is also featured.
The new £10 note is 15% smaller than the current £10 note – Source: Bank of England
There is also an image of Godmersham Park, the home of Edward Austen Knight (Jane Austen’s brother). It is believed that she visited the house often and it was the inspiration for a number of Jane Austen’s novels.
When can I find one in my change?
The new note entered circulation on 14th September this year and around 55% of £10 banknotes in circulation are made from polymer.
Will I still be able to spend my current £10 notes?
Yes you will, but only up until 1 March 2018. As with the old paper £5 notes, the £10 note will eventually cease to be legal tender – but you will still be able to exchange them at the Bank of England.
What will happen to the paper £10 notes once they’re no longer legal tender?
There are approximately 359,000,000 paper ten pound notes in circulation, but the Bank of England does have a plan for them.
Once the Bank of England start to withdraw the paper £10 notes from circulation, they will be recycled.
In the early 2000s, the Bank of England introduced a new way to get rid of its old notes – by recycling them with a composting treatment similar to that used with food waste.
This recycling method was put into place for all paper-note waste in 2011, using them as a soil improver for agriculture.
What should I look out for on the new polymer £10 banknotes?
When the new polymer £5 note was released in September 2016, serial numbers became the talk of a nation. The first prefixes I considered were JA01, JA75 (Jane Austen’s birth year) and JA17 (the year of Jane Austen’s death). However, whilst these will likely become popular with collectors in the future, it could be many years before notes with these serial numbers enter circulation due to the huge amount of possible combinations that would come before ‘JA’. Click here to find out what else you should be looking for on these banknotes >>
So the new era of Plastic Banknotes is officially upon us! What do you make of the new Polymer banknotes?
Mark the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death
To celebrate such an inspirational female figure, the Royal Mint and the Bank of England have chosen to honour her on a brand new £2 coin and £10 banknote.
Click here to own the 2017 Jane Austen £2 Coin and £10 Banknote Pack today >>
2017 Quarter 2 Change Checker “Scarcity Index” Released
Following the launch of the Change Checker “Scarcity Index” earlier this year the Quarter 2 Index has just been published.
It takes into account all of the latest ownership and swap information and, most importantly, this Quarter factors in the Royal Mint’s confirmed mintage figures for the 2016 releases.
Jemima Puddle-duck confirmed as most sought-after Beatrix Potter 50p.
For many Change Checkers, the most eagerly anticipated information concerns the Beatrix Potter 50p coins. Following confirmation of the low Jemima Puddle-duck mintage in comparison to the other 3 character designs, we can see the significant effect on the Scarcity Index – with Jemima Puddle-duck holding a scarcity score of over double the next character, Squirrel Nutkin.
For those of you still keen to add Jemima Puddle-duck to your collection, why not enter our Face Value Ballot.
Elsewhere among the 50p coins, it will be of little surprise that Kew Gardens maintains its top spot as the UK’s most sought after circulation coin, whilst Isaac Newton debuts with a score of 23 after its surprise limited release into circulation last month. That will certainly be one to watch over next quarter.
New coin crowned as the UK’s scarcest £2 Coin
Interestingly, the £2 Scarcity Index has seen a new coin top the list. Jumping up 2 places and from an Index score of 81, the England Commonwealth Games £2 coin takes the crown this quarter, benefiting from extra swap interest. However, there are no great surprises when you look at the other top 4 £2 coins, which comprise the other Commonwealth Games coins. Indeed the average Scarcity Index Score for the 4 Commonwealth Games coins has jumped almost 10 points for 85.5 to 94.75.
Elsewhere, we have seen a relaxation in the figures for the 2016 coins as they have made their way into wider circulation and The Royal Mint has confirmed sensible mintages.
How the Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have had to rely upon mintage figures to identify the scarcest coins. But they only tell part of the story. Trying to find a good quality coin from 15 – 20 years ago, even for a higher mintage issue, is much more challenging than a more recent issue, as coins become damaged over time and are ultimately removed from circulation.
Additionally, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – the recent poignant First World War £2 Coin series being an example. Finally, it can be up to a couple of years before the Royal Mint eventually confirms the actual mintage for an issue.
That’s why we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information.
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Importantly, as new coins are released and popularity rises and falls across different designs the Scarcity Index will be updated quarterly allowing Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index does not necessarily equate to value but it is certainly an effective indicator. For example, the Kew Gardens 50p coin commands a premium of up to 160 times face value on eBay.
What about £1 Coins?
The £1 Scarcity Index has already been published for the Round £1 coins and, because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone.
Why Jemima Puddle-Duck is already the most sought after Beatrix Potter 50p
When The Royal Mint released the mintage figures for the 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p Coins, what immediately caught the attention of collectors was the minimal amount of Jemima Puddle-Duck coins that had been struck compared to the rest of the series.
Only 2.1 million Jemima Puddle-Duck coins were released into circulation, that’s less than 20% of Peter rabbit and half the amount of Squirrel Nutkin which has the 2nd lowest mintage.
When one coin in a series has a much lower mintage figure, collectors struggle to complete the set. We’ve started to see evidence of this as swap requests from our Swap Centre users have increased dramatically.
Swap Ratio
For every one Jemima Puddle-Duck coin we see listed as available to swap, there are more than 8 users requesting this coin.
The rarity of this coin is also highlighted by our Scarcity Index.
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app