A NEW festive coin celebrating The Snowman has been launched by The Royal Mint.
It is the first of the Mint’s collectable 50p coins celebrating The Snowman to feature the official coinage portrait of King Charles.
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The 2023 design tells the magical story of a young boy called James who builds a snowman that comes to life.
The coin is the sixth to be added to the Mint’s Christmas coin series celebrating Raymond Brigg’s classic children’s book.
It features a brand-new design by award-winning illustrator Robin Shaw that depicts the little boy and the snowman dancing together.
The Snowman was first published in 1978 and has sold more than 5.5million copies around the world.
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Rebecca Morgan, director of collector services at the Royal Mint said: “Continuing our partnership with award-winning illustrator Robin Shaw, we are excited to release another original festive coin that brings Raymond Briggs’s story to life in a new way.
“This year’s edition of The Snowman coin is particularly special, being the first of our Christmas coins with King Charles III’s effigy on its obverse.
“We hope that people love the coin’s design and look to collect a piece of British Christmas history.”
Two coins in the collection are “brilliant uncirculated“, this means they are struck to a superior standard than circulated coins.
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The machines used to strike these coins are polished and finished by hand, unlike circulated ones.
Circulated coins are coins that you will see in your shop change.
There are also two other coins in the collection, they are silver proof and gold proof coins.
Proof coins are amongst the finest commemorative coins produced by The Royal Mint.
The dies used to strike proof coins are hand-finished to ensure that all imperfections are removed.
How much can I buy the new Snowman coin for?
You can purchase the new Snowman coins from The Royal Mint website.
Prices start from £11 for a brilliant uncirculated coin and £20 for a colour version, all the way up to £1,220 for a gold proof coin.
Collectors are already listing the coins on eBay too.
At the moment you can find one of the brilliant uncirculated 50p coins listed for £9.49 and the coloured version for £14.99.
Also listed on the bidding site is a silver-proof coin for £109.50.
Remember that just because an item is listed for a certain amount it does not mean that someone will buy it for that price.
Another thing to bear in mind is if you can still buy the coin directly from The Royal Mint website then it is unlikely you will get much more for it on eBay.
Usually, collectors buy these limited edition coins in the hope that they will go up in value as there is only a certain number of them available, but this is not always the case.
However, in 2018 one rare Snowman coin did fetch quite a sum.
The coin was launched on the Isle of Man in 2003 and only 10,000 were ever minted.
It was released as a limited-edition coin to mark the 25th anniversary of the release of The Snowman.
The rare 50p coin sold on eBay for £292 in October 2018.
In 2022 fans of The Snowman were able to add to their collection with new coins celebrating ten years since the release of The Snowman and Snowdog.
One of the silver proof coins in this range sold for £70 on eBay which was just a couple of pounds more than the list on The Royal Mint web website.
At the moment other coins in The Snowman range are also listed on eBay.
A 2018 Snowman silver proof coin is listed for £100, while a gold proof coin of the same year is listed for a whopping £1,750.
What should you do if you find a rare coin in your change?
If you are lucky enough to find a rare coin in your change or hidden down the back of the sofa, you could be quids in.
You should research the coin to see if it may hold any value and you can do this easily on sites such as eBay, The Royal Mint, and Coin Hunter.
It is also worth having a look on Change Checker as it tracks which rare coins and valuable notes are worth the most.
Remember coins are only worth what someone is willing to pay and there are no guarantees.
For instance, if you have a coin that a collector needs to finish his or her set you might get lucky as they could be willing to pay over the odds just to get their hands on it.
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It is not only 50p coins that can be collector’s items, it is worth looking out for 10ps too, here we have some of the rarest.
We have also rounded up some of the most valuable coins in Britain.
