Rarest 'error' coin ever worth at least £1,200 – do you have the valuable £2?
A COIN believed to contain the “rarest document error” will fetch at least £1,200 at auction.
Rare coins and notes regularly sell for hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds as there is only a limited quantity in circulation.
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So it's definitely worth checking your change to see if you have any left in your pocket.
Some rare coins are known to have sold for £900 in the past, while a rare banknote fetched its owner as much as £22,000 at auction.
Now a £2 coin depicting Lord Kitchener is set to fetch up to £1,200 at auction in Wiltshire on February 14.
The coin features the image of Lord Kitchener, famously used on recruitment posters during the First World War.
But the £2 has a flaw and it is this flaw that experts say makes this coin so valuable.
RWB Auctions and The Britannia Coin Company believe the coin is “the rarest documented 'error coin' in circulation”.
Coin specialist Christopher Collects said: “The Royal Mint carefully checks the coins it puts into circulation, so it is very unusual to find modern British coins with errors.
Only a handful of 2014 Kitchener Error £2 coins have been found, making this perhaps the rarest coin to find in your change.
“Everyone knows the Kew Gardens 50p, but 210,000 were minted – this error coin is on a whole different level.”
Approximately 5,720,000 of the Lord Kitchener £2 coins were produced by The Royal Mint in 2014 to mark the 100th anniversary since the outbreak of the conflict.
Although the standard Lord Kitchener £2 coins are fairly common, this coin lacks its value on the obverse.
Typically these coins have the words “two pounds” on the obverse side, along with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, but not this error coin.
The auction house said the coin has been authenticated by the experts at the Royal Mint Museum, who confirmed that the incorrect head design was stamped on the coin during production.
It is not clear how many of this particular error coin are in circulation, but there are usually only a handful of these types of coins.
A signed letter from the museum's Information and Research Manager will be sold as evidence along with the coin.
“Because they are so scarce, these Kitchener coins attract serious attention when they come up for sale, and I know many coin hunters will be watching this auction closely,” Christopher said.
The auction will take place online at www.rwbauctions.com.
Of course, always bear in mind that although this error coin will sell for over £1,000, you may not always get this amount for it, or other similar error coins.
A rare coin or banknote is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
How to check if a coin is valuable
A coin is generally considered rare if it has a low mintage figure: the amount put into circulation.
You can check how many of a specific coin have been released on The Royal Mint's website.
For example, the Kew Gardens 2009 50p has sold for almost £900 in the past, as only 210,000 were minted.
In contrast, something like the 2011 Olympic football piece, of which 1,125,500 were released, has historically only sold for £18.
But it's not just a low mintage figure that indicates whether a coin is likely to sell for several times its face value.
'Error coins' such as the 1980 50p piece have also been known to sell for hundreds of pounds.
These arose due to manufacturing defects and in many cases there are only a few in circulation.
How to sell a rare coin
Once you've deciphered whether a coin is rare or not, you can sell it in a number of ways, including through Facebook, eBay or at auction.
If you sell through Facebook, be wary of the risks involved.
There have been cases where fraudsters have contacted sellers saying they would like to purchase a rare coin and request money upfront for a courier to pick it up.
But the items were never picked up and the sellers are out of money.
To avoid this, it's always worth meeting a potential buyer in person when using Facebook Marketplace.
Of course, make sure it is in a public meeting place that is well lit.
If you sell through eBay, you must first register for an account. All you have to do is enter your email address and create a password.
Once you have done this, you can list a product, but make sure you have good photos and detail the condition of the coin to avoid disappointing buyers.
In most cases, the safest way to sell a rare coin will most likely be through an auction.
You can arrange this through the Royal Mint's Collectors Service, which has a team of experts who can authenticate and value a coin.
You can contact us via email. A member of the valuation team will then contact you.
Please note that you will be charged for the service. How much depends on the size of your collection.
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