Brits are being alerted to keep their eyes peeled for a “highly sought-after” £1 coin that could fetch up to £500 due to a minuscule minting error. The 12-sided £1 coins, which officially came into circulation across the UK in April 2017, had some batches minted in 2016 as part of the preparation.
A select few of these coins have been found to possess a tiny mistake along the edge. A coin enthusiast, known on TikTok as the Coin Collecting Wizard, shared how to spot this lucrative piece.
He said: “A rare £1 coin you can find in your change worth £500.” Collectors are particularly keen on finding the £1 coin with an incorrect date micro-engraving, a rarity that adds significant value.
“The new series of 12-sided pound coins typically have a micro-engraved date on the rim for extra security. ” This particular error shows the main date next to the Queen’s head as “2016”, while the small inscription around the outer edge reads “2017”.
The expert explained: “However, a small number of these coins were mistakenly engraved with the wrong year for example, showing 2016 instead of 2017. This subtle but significant error went unnoticed by many making these coins particularly rare.
“Because the micro-engraving is so small and not easily visible without close inspection, these coins are prized discoveries for collectors and can fetch a premium price reflecting both their rarity and the intrigue of the minting mistake.”
Experts at Change Checker have supported his advice, stating: “Firstly, although both 2016 and 2017 obverse-dated £1 coins entered circulation in April 2017, the die-error mix-up appears to have only occurred on a limited number of coins with a 2016 date on the Queen’s head side. So it’s worth checking any 2016 coins.
“You’ll need to look just inside the rim of the design-side of the coin, where you will see some tiny writing. You’ll almost certainly need a microscope to properly see the writing, which should reveal the date.”
They also noted that an example of this coin was sold for £2,500 to a collector in Spain in 2017. However, but they estimate that the value of such a coin, if in excellent condition, could be between £300 and £500.
The Royal Mint has confirmed the error on this coin.