Blog Home
Queen’s Remarkable Reign Celebrated on Coins!
On the run up to the Platinum Jubilee weekend, The Royal Mint revealed a brand new coin series celebrating Her Majesty’s 70-year reign.
The Queen’s Reign 3-Coin Series
They are the first UK coins ever to include the Queen’s signature – uniting each coin in the collection.
And today, the third and FINAL coin in The Queen’s Reign series has been issued: The Commonwealth £5.
Pictured above, the design of the 2022 UK The Queen’s Reign: The Commonwealth £5 coin commemorates Her Majesty’s service and commitment to the Commonwealth Nations, featuring flags from countries within the Commonwealth.
It’s available now in Brilliant Uncirculated quality – just click here >>
The first coin, the Honours and Investitures £5, pays tribute to the honours and awards the Queen has bestowed on individuals for their service, with a design featuring a range of medals including the George Cross, Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Click here to order the first coin in the series >>
The design of the second coin, the Charity and Patronage £5, honours Her Majesty’s advocacy and support of charities, focusing on Maundy Money; a symbol of service.
The annual Royal Maundy service — where the monarch distributes Maundy money to retired pensioners on the Thursday before Easter — has been a staple in the Queen’s calendar since she ascended to the throne. Find out more on our blog >>
The second coin is available now in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here >>
The Queen on Coins!
Since the very first Coronation Crown in 1953, milestone moments in Her Majesty’s life have been celebrated on 20 coins, including the 1993 Coronation Crown, the 2012 Diamond Jubilee £5 and the Platinum Jubilee 50p – the UK’s first ever Royal 50p – to name a few of my favourites!
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
The Platinum Jubilee weekend (2nd to 5th June 2022) was a fantastic celebration for the Queen’s milestone reign, and a whole host of celebrations – including the coveted Platinum Party at the Palace – took place!
To commemorate, a range of Platinum Jubilee coins have also been issued – explore the Platinum Jubilee range here >>
Own the Queen’s Reign £5 Series
Click here to get your hands on the remarkable Queen’s Reign £5 Series
The UK’s Future King celebrates 40th Birthday – £5 coin issued to commemorate event
The Duke of Cambridge, HRH Prince William, is the second in line to the throne and the elder son of The Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales.
In 2022, the year that marks Prince William’s 40th birthday, The Royal Mint has issued a brand new £5 coin.
Significantly, this is the first ever UK coin to be solely dedicated to The Duke, with a design by engraver, Thomas T. Docherty capturing the prince’s likeness in exquisite detail.
The perfect addition to any royal collection, issued in honour of a much-loved prince and future King, you can now secure your 2022 UK Prince William 40th Birthday £5 and preserve this significant moment in British royal history for generations to come.
Secure yours today for JUST £10.99 (+p&p) by clicking here >>
Whilst this is the only coin to be solely dedicated to HRH Prince William, he has been commemorated on two previous £5 coins…
2011 Royal Wedding £5
This £5 coin was issued to celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011.
The reverse bears the officially approved portraits of the couple and is only the sixth time in history that a double portrait has appeared on British coinage.
The designer, Mark Richards FRBS, was chosen in an invitation only process and describes his depiction of the couple as ‘a feeling that pervades all the photographs I have seen of the couple together’.
The image is taken from one of their first official engagements together.
2018 Four Generations of Royalty £5
This Four Generations of Royalty £5 coin was highly anticipated since the moment HRH Prince George of Cambridge was born on 22nd July 2013.
This was the first time ever that The Royal Mint had issued a coin that celebrated all four generations of royalty in line to the throne on a single coin.
The reverse features an original design by much-loved calligrapher Timothy Noad, and ornately shows the initials of the current four generations, E, C, W, G, and represents the heritage of the House of Windsor.
Born to be King
Source: Royal Navy, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons
The Duke of Cambridge has been second in line to the throne, since his birth in 1982. From a young age, he possessed a desire to undertake charitable activities and projects.
Alongside his efforts in promoting the welfare of those who are serving or who have served their country in the Armed Forces, Prince William’s charitable efforts expand into global affairs.
Protecting the natural environment for future generations is one of Prince William’s key priorities. His Highness supports wildlife conservation initiatives and even led key programmes to end illegal wildlife trafficking on a global scale.
In October 2020, His Royal Highness launched ‘The Earthshot Prize’ designed to incentivise change and help to repair our planet over the next 10 years.
The Duke of Cambridge is also committed to helping children and young people. From convening a new industry-led taskforce to combat online bullying, to publically highlighting youth-engaging programmes, Prince William is dedicated to making a difference in young people’s lives.
In the year that marks HRH Prince William’s 40th birthday, we can celebrate his achievements in raising awareness of these important issues.
Secure the 2022 UK Prince William 40th Birthday £5 coin for your collection!
Secure the 2022 UK Prince William 40th Birthday £5 coin for your collection today for JUST £10.99 (+p&p) by clicking here >>
Your coin has been struck to a Brilliant Uncirculated quality and comes protectively encapsulated in official Change Checker packaging, to preserve the quality of your coin for generations to come.
It’s all change! Your Scarcity Index Update…
It’s time for your latest Scarcity Index update, where we reveal the UK’s most sought-after circulation coins of the last three months! As we continue to go out and spend more cash, we’ve seen some BIG movers and shakers on our Scarcity Index.
Our 50p index has been given a huge shakeup, with moves across the majority of the board! The same can be said for the £2 Index, with JUST four coins being untouched.
You can use the updated A-Z 10p, 50p and £2 indexes below to discover how sought-after the coins in your collection really are.
This information has been compiled using data from the Change Checker Swap Centre and presented in the easy to use indexes below, with arrows to signify how many places up or down a coin has moved since the last Scarcity Index.
50p Index
It’s been a HUGE quarter for our 50p coins with this Scarcity Index update showing nearly all circulating UK 50p coins having moved around!
The Pentathlon 50p has climbed an incredible 12 places, pushing towards the top of our index. This coin has a circulating mintage of 1,689,500 which makes it one of the rarer 50ps in circulation.
Whilst it’s not the rarest Olympic 50p out there, all of these coins are incredibly popular with collectors, and have been since the 2012 Olympic Games!
Other key movers include the Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle 50p which has climbed by 12 places and the Handball 50p which has climbed by 8 places.
£2 Index
Another big shake up sees just FOUR coins on our £2 Index remain in the same place, with some huge movers causing a shuffle.
The Shakespeares Comedies £2 has been bumped down 12 places and the Gunpowder Plot £2 has climbed an impressive 9 places!
Other key movers to keep your eyes on are the Brunel – Paddington Station £2, which has climbed 9 places and the Florence Nightingale £2, which has climbed by 8.
A-Z 10p Index
As the Change Checker team travelled up north on our Platinum Jubilee 50p coin swap tour, it seems the Lochness Monster 10p was following suit, as it climbs 13 places!
And as we approach the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend, the Jubilee 10p has climbed up towards the top of the index. With growing interest in Jubilee themed coins, including the 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p, there’s no surprises more collectors are wanting to get their hands on this 10p!
Other key movers include the NHS, Angel of the North, and Bond 10p coins, which have all climbed up 4 places.
Regardless of where they feature in the above index, if you have any of the A-Z 10ps in your collection you should consider yourself very lucky. A maximum of only 304,000 of each design entered circulation!
How your 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 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 200 times face value on eBay.
You can use the 6 point guide to help you determine a more realistic value for your coins.
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.
Receive new UK coins without the hassle of placing orders on the day of release!
Join the Change Checker UK CERTIFIED BU Subscription Service and receive new UK coins sent to your door without the hassle of placing orders on the day of release!
Don’t miss your chance to get ahead of the crowd and be one of the very first collectors to receive the latest UK new issue coins as soon as possible after their release.