EXPERTS have urged everyone to check their change for a rare £2 coin.
A small detail could make the £2 coin 250 times more valuable according to coin collectors.
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It is believed that the coin is in circulation and features an error that could massively boost its value.
Released in 2014 to mark the 100 years since the start of the First World War the coin features the face of Lord Kitchener.
Lord Kitchener is the face of the iconic “Your Country Needs You” posters.
A batch of the coins released by the Royal Mint more than a decade ago feature a rare error.
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Coin collectors value pieces with errors, misprints or mistakes on them as they are few and far between.
Some of the Lord Kitchener coins are missing the words “two pounds” from their surface on the head side.
This boosts their value for collectors hugely with estimates that a coin with the error could sell for £500.
The first time one of these coins was sold in 2020 it went for a whopping £500 to a collector.
What are the most rare and valuable coins?
While coins with no errors are only worth their face values, those with errors are far rarer.
This boosts their value, in some cases making them 100 or 200 times more valuable.
Coin collectors have forked out hundreds, even thousands of pounds on rare coins before.
It has not been confirmed how many of these rare coins are in circulation.
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Some experts estimate there to be more than five million of the Lord Kitchener coins in circulation today.
Experts at Coin Hunter have said it appears to be it appears to be “very rare” to find one without a date.
Coin Hunter experts said on Facebook: “Check your coins that feature Lord Kitchener.
“If the heads side does not show ‘TWO POUNDS’ – you have an error that appears to be very rare.”
A coins rarity is set by its mintage figure, which shows how many of that coin were produced.
The fewer there are the rarer the coin and the more valuable it could be.
The mintage of a coin can be checked on the Royal Mint’s official website.
How to spot valuable items
COMMENT by Consumer Editor, Alice Grahns:
It’s easy to check if items in your attic are valuable.
As a first step, go on eBay to check what other similar pieces, if not the same, have sold for recently.
Simply search for your item, filter by “sold listings” and toggle by the highest value.
This will give you an idea of how much others are willing to pay for it.
The method can be used for everything ranging from rare coins and notes to stamps, old toys, books and vinyl records – just to mention a few examples.
For coins, online tools from change experts like Coin Hunter are also helpful to see how much it could be worth.
Plus, you can refer to Change Checker’s latest scarcity index update to see which coins are topping the charts.
For especially valuable items, you may want to enlist the help of experts or auction houses.
Do your research first though and be aware of any fees for evaluating your stuff.
As a rule of thumb, rarity and condition are key factors in determining the value of any item.
You’re never guaranteed to make a mint, however.