CHECK your change for one of these 10p coins and you could have a piece worth up to 140 times its face value.
Here are the rarest and most valuable 10p coins in circulation – and how much you can pocket if you find one.
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Coin website Change Checker last updated its scarcity index in November, tracking which rare coins and valuable notes are worth the most.
Change selling for the most include these ultra-rare 20p coins and a variety of uncommon 2p pieces.
As far as 10p coins go, the rarest and most valuable are still on the A to Z collection minted in 2018 and re-released in 2019.
Each letter of the alphabet was represented with an easy-to-guess illustrated design, celebrating best of British themes including James Bond, a cup of tea and cricket.
There were 220,000 of each of the 26 coins released into circulation in 2018.
Far fewer, 84,000, were minted in 2019 – which makes them all the more valuable.
The coins look exactly the same apart from a 2019 stamp next to the Queen’s head on the newest release.
RARE COINS AND VALUABLE NOTES
There were 63,000 W, Y and Z coins minted, represented the world wide web, a yeoman warder and a zebra crossing respectively.
And there were only 64,000 coins made featuring the R for Robin picture, while 83,000 of the Q for Queue coins were created.
The low mintage figures for the 2019 versions mean that there are fewer out there than even the rarest coin of all, the Kew Gardens 50p.
The collection is highly sought-after by coin hunters, with collectors desperate to get hold of all 26 coins and complete the alphabet.
In its most recent update Change Checker also tracked rising interest in the L for Loch Ness Monster and J for Jubilee coins, which rose more than a dozen places each to enter the top 10.
M for Mackintosh and V for Villages weren’t so lucky and saw their values fall.
We’ve rounded up six of the rarest 10p coins and checked how much they’re selling for so you can find out what you might fetch.
Rare and valuable coins – is yours worth a mint?
Some which are Brilliant Uncirculated are in mint condition and often sell for more than their circulated counterparts.
However, it’s worth remembering that a coin is really only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Y for Yeoman Warder 10p – £11
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This coin features a yeoman warder on the tails side to celebrate the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London who protect the British Crown Jewels.
Although it is third highest on the Change Checker scarcity list, it’s the second most lucrative coin on eBay so far this year.
The highest recent selling price we could find on eBay for a 2019 Y for Yeoman 10p coin was a £10.50 uncirculated edition.
Ten bids were filed during a competitive auction in November 2021.
Circulated versions sell for closer to £7.50 – like this one, which sold on eBay for 75 times its face value just a few days ago.
There are 283,000 of these coins in circulation in total.
Z for Zebra Crossing 10p – £11
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Royal Mint released this coin to celebrate James Callaghan’s iconic black and white pedestrian crossing.
They have also become iconic in British culture since featuring on the iconic cover of Beatles album Abbey Road.
On eBay, the highest recent price for a sale of a 2019 Z for Zebra 10p is £11.27.
Circulated versions go for £6.50.
Like the Y for Yeoman Warder coin, there are 283,000 of these in circulation in total.
R for Robin 10p – £14
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Taking the top spot on the scarcity index in November, the R for Robin coin now sells for more than any of the other 10p pieces on the market.
R for Robin features a wintery, snowflake background with a robin sitting inside the letter R.
That gives it extra appeal around Christmastime.
We spotted a circulated one which sold for a respectable £14 after attracting 12 bids in mid-November.
It doesn’t sound like a huge amount of money, but it is 140 times the coin’s face value.
Still, there are more of these in circulation than Y for Yeoman Warder and Z for Zebra Crossing coins, with 284,000 in total.
W for World Wide Web 10p – £10
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Celebrating Brit Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the internet, this W for World Wide Web 10p features a cool spiderweb design.
Though it’s not quite clear how the design actually relates to the internet, these coins continue to fetch up to £9.50 each on eBay.
That’s less than the £14.50 we recorded last year, but it’s still a steady amount.
Circulated editions go for more like £3.20.
There have been 283,000 of these coins minted over the past four years.
Q for Queue 10p – £6
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They say us Brits love to queue, and this 10p coin plays homage to that.
The design shows ten people queuing in the middle of the letter Q.
When we searched recent eBay listings, one 2019 coin had sold for just under £6 after attracting four bids.
However, that’s an uncirculated coin – those which have been used go for closer to £2.50, depending on their condition.
According to Change Checker, the circulating mintage for this coin is 303,000.
T for Tea 10p – £6
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You’ll struggle to find a Brit who doesn’t love a cup of tea, and this coin celebrates the popular hot beverage.
On the front of the coin, you’ll see a steaming teapot next to the letter T.
An uncirculated edition fetched more than £6 on eBay recently.
But a circulated version could still pocket you more than £4 – as in this case from just a few days ago.
In total, 304,000 of these coins have been minted.
What makes a coin more valuable?
Mintage figures are generally what collectors look at to work out its value.
Low mintage makes it rare which often means it is more valuable, but that’s not the only thing.
Change Checker also looks at how many of the coins have been collected by its members which shows how easy they may be to find (or not).
The experts also track the number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous three months, showing the current level of collector demand.
While the index doesn’t necessarily correspond to value, it is an effective indicator.
What do I do if I have a rare coin and how do I find out how much it’s worth??
Around one in every four old £1 coins were thought to be fake, according to The Royal Mint, so there are probably more fakers in your spare change then you realise.
The Royal Mint is unable to value a coin but it can confirm whether it is real or not. They will usually supply you with a letter to confirm this.
Once you’ve found out whether the coin is real or not, you have a number of options – either selling it through a coin dealer, at auction or on eBay.
You can look at eBay’s recent sold prices to get an indicator of how much your coin usually goes for on the site.
Search the full name of the coin, select the “sold” listing and then toggle the search to “highest value”.
It will give you an idea of the amount of money that the coin is going for.
You can either choose to sell the coin on eBay or through a specialist such as Change Checker.
We’ve updated our list of the rarest and most valuable 50p pieces in circulation, including Olympics coins worth more than £200.
Keep up to date with all the rare coins and valuable notes news from The Sun.
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