UK coins
Jurassic Giants! What we know so far about the 2021 Dinosaur 50p coins…
Are you ready to discover the mighty beasts of the sea and sky?
The Royal Mint has confirmed that a brand new series of 50p coins is set to commemorate Mary Anning and her discovery of the giants of the Jurassic Coast.
Mary Anning is remembered as being one of the greatest fossil hunters and paleontologists to have ever lived. At the start of her career, she claimed her excavations were merely to explore her ‘curiosities’ but later, she was to discover remains of some of the greatest creatures to have ever swam in our shores and soared in our skies.
Famous in her home town of Lyme Regis, Dorset, Anning’s work left a legacy of fossil hunting, paleontology and science. Dinosaur fans and historians alike, still flock to the seaside town in their thousands every year to learn more about her discoveries and to try and unearth their very own creatures in the sand and rocks!
The 2021 Mary Anning Dinosauria Collection is set to be a soaring success as it follows in the huge dinosaur footprints of last year’s Dinosauria 50p series, that introduced us to the Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus!
Whilst the designs of these coins remain top secret, they have been issued once more in collaboration with the National History Museum so we’re certain they will be dino-mite!
If you want to be one of the very first to secure the 2021 Mary Anning Dinosauria 50p coins for your collection as soon as they become available, for the cheapest available price, you can do so with the Change Checker New Issue Subscription service.
To find out more and to sign-up, simply click here >>
How much is my coin worth? January 2021 eBay Tracker Update!
Good news Change Checkers – your latest eBay Tracker and Valuation Index is here!
Whilst the secondary market can be a bit of a minefield, we’ve put together an easy way for you to see how much the Top 10 UK coins and banknotes are selling for right now.
eBay Tracker
Find out which coins and notes have been the key movers and shakers in the updated eBay Tracker below.
We’ve seen a huge jump in price for the Undated 20p, increasing by a huge £9! This coin dropped in value in the last eBay Tracker so it’s interesting to see it climb to £50 this month.
This coin is regarded by many as the Holy Grail of change collecting, and back in 2008, the undated 20p saga encouraged an entire country to start carefully checking their coins.
This mule coin came about when the new Royal Shield 20p coins were struck for circulation, with no date on the reverse. The old die was accidentally used, meaning a batch was issued with no date on either side of the coin.
The undated 20p became the first coin in over 300 years to enter circulation without a date and it’s estimated by The Royal Mint that no more than 250,000 coins made it into circulation.
So, there’s no surprises people are prepared to pay a pretty penny on the secondary market to secure one for their collection!
There’s also been an increase in the sold prices of the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p, jumping up by £6.00.
As the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p is a strike your own version, this indicates that collectors are likely heading to secondary markets to get hold of these types of coins, as The Royal Mint Experience remains closed.
With less cash also being used in the past few months because of the current climate, it’s clear this has influenced collector behaviour on the secondary markets too, as people are unable to exchange coins in the same ways they were previously. This therefore drives the price up, as demand for the coin increases.
Additionally, with more time being spent at home and people seeking new hobbies to keep themselves entertained, new collectors are perhaps becoming more aware of rare and collectable coins that might be worth owning and as a result, are heading to the secondary market to get hold of one.
But will we continue to see the price of this coin rise on the secondary market as we head back to a new kind of ‘normal’? Only time will tell and we’ll have to wait for the next eBay Tracker update to find out!
As collectors are unable to source coins in the usual ways due to the current climate, it’s interesting that we’ve seen some big changes this month, as people head to secondary markets to secure coins for their collection.
Valuation Index
Overall, there’s been a 1.3 point increase value for the Top 10 UK coins and banknotes since June’s update and this is no doubt due to the increase in price for 7 of the coins in the tracker.
After an impressive spike in our last update, we’ve seen another increase in January – taking it to the highest we’ve seen since the Tracker started!
My coin isn’t on the eBay Tracker
The eBay Tracker follows the movements of the Top 10 UK coins and banknotes, however if your coin doesn’t appear on the tracker you can use our 6 point guide to help determine realistic a value for your coin.
So now that you’re up to date with our latest eBay Tracker, will you be selling any of the coins in your collection or will you continue to save them? Let us know in the comments below.
How does the eBay Tracker work?
The Change Checker eBay Tracker takes the last 9 sold prices achieved on eBay and gives the median price achieved (rounded to the nearest 50p). By taking the median, rather than an average, we avoid skewing created by one or two excessive prices achieved.
Please note that the Change Checker eBay Tracker is only ever designed to be a guide as to prices achieved on eBay. Prices may vary depending on collector demand and the quality of the coin being sold. It does not provide any guarantee as to future values of coins.
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
Queen Victoria – Around the World on Coins…
Cast your imagination back to the 19th century… Queen Victoria ruled 400 million people in an empire that covered almost a quarter of the world’s surface!
With a name and title famous across the globe, it may come as a surprise to you that Queen Victoria never actually stepped foot in many of the countries she ruled over.
India was held with such high regard in Victoria’s heart that it became known as the Jewel in the Empire’s crown. In 1876, India awarded her the title of ‘Empress of India’ in a gesture of appreciation.
Although having never stepped foot in the country and living 4,500 miles away, Victoria’s portrait was minted on to the currency of India (the rupee) from 1840, so people could recognise their empress!
The rupee is one of the oldest currencies in the world, so to feature a British monarch for the first time was an important moment in numismatic history.
The later portrait issued on rupees, similar to the Gothic Head effigy, can be considered one of the most beautiful coins of the empire.
A 22hr flight to Australia seems a long journey now but for Queen Victoria, a trip to this corner of the world would have taken her almost two months to get there!
So, there’s no surprises this was also a country that she never visited. However, the need for a British presence in the country was growing with the empire; as the empire grew, so did the need for coins. The Royal Mint opened branches in Australia and in 1855, a sovereign was minted outside of the UK for the first time – the Sydney sovereign.
It featured a portrait of Victoria that was based on the Young Head effigy, but with a sprig of banksia weaved through Victoria’s hair, giving the portrait a distinct Australian feel.
The Sydney sovereign became incredibly successful and a number of Royal Mint branches were opened throughout Australia as a result. To identify the Mint that sovereigns were produced in, mintmarks were added to the coins, with a small ‘P’ for Perth, and an ‘M’ for Melbourne.
The sovereign became legal tender in the majority of British colonies in the 1860s, and its importance in British trade, and worldwide circulation earned it the title “the King of Coins”. By the final years of the British Empire, the sovereign was minted in four continents across the globe.
India and Australia weren’t the only countries that saw Victoria’s portrait. Her image also reached as far as Hong Kong, Ceylon, East Africa and New Zealand. In 1870 the first Canadian dollar with Victoria’s portrait was issued, taking Victoria’s image to a new side of the world for people to see.
Despite never leaving Europe, Queen Victoria’s portrait and image stood strong on coins around the world. Whilst she never stepped foot in many of the countries that she ruled over, that didn’t stop people recognising her image around the world.
The coins that they used every day provided a link to the empire that they were a part of, despite the miles between them.
If you’ve found this blog informative and have enjoyed reading, let us know in the comments below!
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