Is the Coin in My Pocket Change Worth Anything?
What Royal Mint mintage figures tell us about your 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 coins, and the few that deserve a second look.
Almost always, a coin from your change is worth its face value. A 50p is worth 50p, even with an unusual design. Most of these coins were struck in the millions. A small number of issues were made in far smaller quantities, and those are the ones collectors look for.
Why a different design does not mean a rare coin
We receive photos of 1p, 2p, 50p and £2 coins every week. The sender has spotted something unusual: an animal, a sports scene, a letter of the alphabet, a cartoon character. They ask whether it is rare.
The answer is nearly always no. Since 2008 the Royal Mint has issued many commemorative designs for circulation. They are made to be spent, and each one was struck in large numbers. A design that looks special can still have millions of identical twins in other people's pockets.
What makes a coin valuable to a collector is scarcity, not novelty. For modern British coins, the best measure of scarcity is the mintage: how many were made.
What the Royal Mint figures show
The Royal Mint publishes mintage figures for every denomination. Here is the general picture, based on those tables.
| Coin | Typical mintage | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| 1p and 2p | Tens or hundreds of millions in most years | Face value. Check only the few low-mintage years listed below. |
| 5p and 10p | Millions to tens of millions | Face value, apart from a handful of recent low-mintage designs. |
| 20p | Millions to tens of millions | Face value for nearly all. A few recent designs are scarcer. |
| 50p | Millions for most; a few well under 1 million | Mostly face value. The 50p has the most scarce issues of any coin. |
| £1 (round and 12-sided) | Mostly millions | Face value. A few older regional designs are lower. |
| £2 | Mostly millions; some commemoratives under 1 million | Mostly face value. Some commemoratives are worth a look. |
Source: Royal Mint, UK coin mintage figures. Some years show no circulation mintage, which means the coin was only released in collector sets, not into change.
The few issues worth a second look
Here are some of the lowest circulation mintages in the Royal Mint tables. Even among these, a coin that has been in a pocket for years is a very different thing from a clean, uncirculated one. Condition matters a great deal.
| Coin | Year | Royal Mint mintage |
|---|---|---|
| 50p European Single Market | 1992 | 109,000 |
| 50p Atlantic Salmon | 2023 | 200,000 |
| 50p Kew Gardens | 2009 | 210,000 |
| 10p A to Z (selected letters) | 2018 | from 220,000 |
| 20p Puffin | 2023 | 525,000 |
| £2 Commonwealth Games (Wales) | 2002 | 588,500 |
| 1p Hazel Dormouse | 2023 | 600,000 |
| 10p Capercaillie | 2023 | 600,000 |
| £2 Britannia and £2 First World War Navy | 2015 | 650,000 each |
| 50p Britannia | 1985 | 682,103 |
| £2 Commonwealth Games (Scotland) | 2002 | 771,750 |
| £2 Olympic Games Handover | 2012 | 845,000 |
| £1 Edinburgh | 2011 | 935,000 |
Figures taken from the Royal Mint tables (page updated 27 August 2026). This is a selection, not a complete list.
Try the pocket-change checker
Choose a coin and a design to see where it sits. The second tool adds up the face value of a bag of change.
Is my coin worth checking?
Pick the coin and the design. Not on the list? Choose "Another design".
Face value of my change
Enter how many of each coin you have.
How to check a coin in three steps
1. Find the year and design
The year is on the obverse (the side with the King's or Queen's head). The design is on the reverse. Note both.
2. Look up the mintage
Search the Royal Mint's mintage tables for your denomination and year. If the figure is in the millions, you have face value.
3. Consider the condition
Only coins with a low mintage and good condition are of interest. A worn coin from a scarce issue is still worth checking, but a bright, unmarked one is worth more to a collector.
Selling a collection of coins
If you have inherited a jar of coins or a collection you no longer want, do not spend hours checking every coin. Send us photos. We will tell you what is face value and what is worth a closer look. If something is collectible, you can consign it to one of our auctions. We hold four to six a year, and we handle photography, cataloguing and marketing for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the value of my 50p with an unusual design?
Almost certainly 50p. Most commemorative 50p designs were struck in the millions. Only a few issues, such as the 2009 Kew Gardens, have a mintage in the low hundreds of thousands.
What is the value of my one pound coin?
Nearly all £1 coins are worth £1. Check the year and design against the Royal Mint tables, and look at the lowest figures first.
What is the value of my two pound coin?
Most are worth £2. Some commemoratives from 2002 and 2015 had mintages under one million, so they are worth a check.
What is the value of my 1p, 2p or 5p?
Face value in almost every case. These coins were made in huge numbers. The few exceptions are specific low-mintage years and designs.
Does an error or a different colour make a coin valuable?
Sometimes. A genuine mint error is different from damage after leaving the Mint. If you think you have one, send us a clear photo.
Can you tell me exactly what my coin is worth?
We can give an opinion once we have seen the coin. We do not quote prices from mintage figures alone.
Not sure about a coin? Ask us.
Send us a photo of the front and back. We will tell you whether it is worth keeping, selling or simply spending.
Sell or consign your coins Browse the coin storeMintage figures are from the Royal Mint's published UK coin mintage tables and may be revised. This article is general information, not a valuation.