British coin set containing rare error 2p sells for £930 on eBay – how to check if you have one

BRITISH coin sets are selling on eBay for up to £930 because they contain a rare error coin.

There are two sets that potentially contain the valuable coin, and both were released in 1983 so you might have to dig yours out.

Some coin sets from 1983 contain a rare error coin

One is The Great British 1983 Coin Collection dished out by Martini and the other the Heinz Royal Mint Uncirculated Coin Collection 1983.

Both sets were released to celebrate the launch of the new gold pound coin, and features an uncirculated version of each UK coin, such as 50p, 10p and 1p.

In the same year, the Royal Mint swapped the “New Pence” slogan on the back of the 2p coin to “Two Pence”.

It means all 2p coins minted between February 1971 and 1982 should say New Pence, and all of those minted in 1983 onwards should have Two Pence on them.

Some of the sets contain the 1983 'New Pence' 2p coin — Some of the sets contain the 1983 ‘New Pence’ 2p coin

On their own, the coins sell for between £500 and £700

But in 1983, a glitch meant a batch of 2p coins were printed with the old wording – New Pence – on them, rather than Two Pence, making them valuable to collectors.

A handful of the Martini and Heinz coin sets contain the rare currency.

Individually, these error coins sell for around £500 to £700 but the sets have been known to fetch up to £1,100, according to ChangeChecker.

Now, that sum was fetched at an eBay auction back in 2019, but a Martini set recently sold for £930 two years on.

The set contained all of the original coins and was sealed, making it even more valuable to a collector.

During the seven-day auction, the coin attracted 25 bids and ended up selling for nearly 1,000 times its 99p listing price.

The seller also included clear photographs of the front and back of the coin in the set to demonstrate that it did actually contain the error coin.

It’s worth including clear photographs in your own listing if you’re planning on selling your own set as one that contained the rare coin but had slightly blurry pictures recently sold for just £13.59.

One of the Martini sets recently sold for £930

The best way to find out if your error coin is genuine

RARE and valuable coins can go for a hefty sum – but how do you know if your coin is the result of a genuine minting error?

The best way to find out if you have an error coin is to send it to the Royal Mint museum, which will analyse it and see if it is a result of a genuine minting error or not.

It’ll normally take a couple of weeks to get the results back to you.

But remember, there’s a difference between a genuine error coin and one that is just imperfect, for example with a design that is not as clear as you’d expect.

And whatever you do, don’t be tempted to splash your cash without evidence from the Mint confirming that it’s a genuine error.

The Martini and Heinz sets without the error coin sell for around £10 on eBay so you shouldn’t expect to fetch a small fortune when flogging it.

Alexandra Siddons, from ChangeChecker, said the error coins in the set are even more valuable than those sold individually because their uncirculated.

Collectors are more likely to pay more to get their hands on a coin without scratches and blemishes.

Colin Bellamy from Coin Hunter previously told The Sun: “To have the best chance of finding this coin, keep an eye on new eBay “buy it now” listings.

“Use search terms such as ‘1983 Martini’ or ‘1983 Heinz’ and sort by newly listed. These brands released sets for coin collectors and they may include the error coin.

“By entering these search terms in eBay – or having eBay notify you of new listing containing these words – you can be the first to spot a buy it now listing for a set that contains this error coin.

“[The sets] have been listed in the past at low prices by people who have not heard of the 1983 New Pence 2p.”

But Ms Siddons added: “If you do decide to look for this coin on the eBay and other secondary market sites, beware of fraudsters looking to pass off a New Pence 2p from any other date as a rare coin.

“Collectors should remember that it’s the 1983 version of the coin which was struck in error and this is the one they should be looking out for.”

Coins minted with mistakes on them could be worth thousands – here’s our guide to the rarest and most valuable error coins.

A rare Olympic swimming 50p coin recently sold on eBay for almost £1,000 – and you could have one in your change at home too.

Reckon you’ve got a 50p coin that might be worth a small fortune? We’ve put together a roundup of the rarest and most valuable 50p coins so that you can check your change.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk