I was shocked to find a £2 worth £350 in my spare change – you could have a rare coin too
ONE lucky dad was shocked to discover a £2 coin in his spare change was worth up to a whopping £350.
Ben Mason shared news of the unexpected fortune on his TikTok and urged followers to sift through their own coin collections.
The Fortnite enthusiast realised he had unknowingly been sitting on a goldmine with this Tosha cat coin in his back pocket.
The message read: “Check your change, just found this Tosha Cat £2 from shop and is worth £350.
It then displays photos revealing how much this coin and others like it are worth – ranging from £289 to £450.
The creator left a message in the comment section which read: “Current bidding is at £190 I’m in shock.
“I just got it in my change I’ve never seen it searched and wow going for high so I put it on eBay.”
Coins can also be bought and sold through The UK Coins – Buy – Sell – Swap Your 50p £1 £2 £5 Coins For Free Facebook group.
This comes after another lucky dad-of-three made a whopping £277 from his spare change.
Matthew Hemingway, from West Yorkshire, started his coin collection around ten years ago – making sure he set aside rare ones.
The plasterer said: “My dad used to be a bus driver so got change all the time – he’d give me the collectable ones,” he said.
“Whenever I picked up a 50p in my change, I’d put it in a jar to save.”
Notable coins the 36-year-old added to his stash over the years included the Kew Garden 50p, Jemima Puddleduck 50p and the £2 Gunpowder Plot coin.
Change Checker’s latest scarcity index shows the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p is the rarest coin, with only 210,000 in existence – and buyers are willing to pay hundreds for them.
Matthew’s Kew Gardens 50p, sold for £167.
He reckons he’ll make around £1,800 to £2,000 selling all his coins.
Do you have a rare coin in your spare change?
Rare coins and valuable notes can be worth tens of thousands of times their face value.
The most valuable coins tend to be ones with low mintage numbers or an error.
Those qualities typically make them valuable to collectors.
But other rare and valuable coins could be in your change – ones that contain small and subtle minting errors.
For example, “New Pence” 2p coins from 1983 often sell for hundreds of pounds due to a mintage mistake – they stopped being called “New Pence” in 1981.
Meanwhile a 50p Olympic coin, which was released to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics, has a small error where the water passed directly over the swimmers face.
This was quickly rectified – but a small number were produced and entered circulation.
These coins have sold for up to £1,000.
Look at what your coin has recently sold for on eBay.
Experts from Change Checker recommend to look at “sold listings”.
That’s because anyone can list a coin on eBay and charge whatever amount they wish and doesn’t mean they have been sold for that amount.
By checking the recently sold items you will get a more accurate indication of what people are willing to pay for a particular coin.
How to sell a rare coin
There are lots of ways to sell your coin – you can sell it on eBay, through Facebook, or in an auction.
But be wary of the risks.
For example, there are a number of scams targeting sellers on Facebook.
Crooks will say they’re planning to buy the item, and ask for money upfront for a courier they’ll be sending round.
But it’s all a ploy to get you to send free cash to them – and they never have any intention of picking your item up.
It’s always best to meet in person when buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Ensure it’s a public meeting spot that’s in a well-lit area.
Avoid payment links and log in directly through the payment method’s website.
Most sellers prefer to deal with cash directly when meeting to ensure it’s legit.
Perhaps the safest way of selling rare coins is to sell it at auction – to do this, contact The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service.
It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.
You’ll need to enquire via email, and a member of the valuation team will contact get back to you.
Take a picture of your coin and attach this to the email – you can find the details on The Royal Mint’s website.
Be aware that you will be charged for this service though – the cost will vary depending on the size of your collection.
You might choose to use eBay to sell your rare coin.
But take into account that if you manage to sell your item then eBay will charge you ten per cent of the money you made – this includes postage and packaging.