Coin of the Year – the results!
The results are in and I can now reveal your top 3 coin designs of 2016!
3rd place – The Last ‘Round’ Pound Coin
2nd Place – The Peter Rabbit 50p
And the winner….
1st Place – The Great Fire of London £2 Coin
Aaron West receiving the Change Checker ‘Coin of the Year 2016’ award.
Thanks for all your votes! The Great Fire of London £2 was designed by Royal Mint engraver Aaron West and really captures the devastating moments that changed London forever.
Now it’s time to look forward to the new issues for 2017. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Change Checkers!
Is there an even rarer version of the Navy £2 in circulation?
Change Checkers have been speculating whether there are two different design variations of the 2015 Navy £2 coin that was released into circulation a couple of months ago.
This coin has already caused a stir in the collecting world as we revealed it was one of the rarest £2 coins with just 650,000 struck for circulation.
The 2015 Navy £2 coin was released into circulation a couple of months ago.
The original Navy £2 design (above) shows the coin without any markings on the top right of the mast, but we’ve seen a few £2’s out there that look like they have a flying flag.
A number of people have been enquiring about whether there were two different designs of the Navy £2 coin struck for circulation.
As you can see from the two coins pictured above, the coin on the right looks like it has a flying flag on the mast whereas the first coin is free from any markings.
So are there two different designs?
No – The Royal Mint strike up to 5 billion coins a year and from time to time cracks in the die can cause pools of metal to form on the coin.
It just so happens that this bit of metal has caused the markings on these coins to look like a flying flag on the ship fueling speculation that two different variations were struck.
Well done to the eagle-eyed change checkers out there who spotted differences between the coins. It’s the little details like these that make collecting so interesting so remember to always check your change carefully.
Have you checked your Navy £2?
Let us know via Facebook, Twitter or leave us a comment below.
Look out for these £5 notes ‘worth £20,000’ in circulation!
Four special £5 notes, engraved with a tiny portrait of author Jane Austen, are being put into circulation and could be worth more than £20,000.
Specialist micro-engraver Graham Short came up with the idea of engraving a 5mm portrait of Pride and Prejudice author Jane Austen on the transparent part of the new plastic £5 notes, to mark the 200th anniversary of one of the best-loved English novelists next year.
£5 note 'worth £20,000' in circulation in Kelso. It features art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short https://t.co/dQPv8VOs5k pic.twitter.com/yPMgSiBELO
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) December 7, 2016
He has included a different quote around each one, ensuring that each note is unique. The banknotes to look out for have the following serial numbers: AM32 885551, AM32 885552, AM32 885553 and AM32 88554.
According to Gallery owner Mr Huggins-Haig, artist Graham Short’s work has an insurance valuation of £50,000 so £20,000 for a banknote with his artwork on is a reasonable estimate. Mr Short’s last work, a portrait of the Queen on a pinhead, sold for £100,000.
The first of four notes featuring art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short was found in a cafe in South Wales on 5th December while another was found the same month inside a Christmas card in Scotland. The third £5 note was found by a mystery old lady in Eniskillen in Northern Ireland who has donated it to charity.
So that means there is just one more rare £5 note left to find with the handiwork of Birmingham micro-artist Graham Short. It was spent somewhere in England back in December so for those hunting down the last remaining fiver, the serial number to look out for is AM 32 885554.
Anyone who finds one of the notes has been advised to contact the Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery in Kelso, which launched the project as they will provide advice on how to put the artwork up for auction.