You will have to look closely to spot this tiny error, an expert said.
Brits have been urged to double check their £1 coins for a tiny error that could make them worth 500 times their face value. This coin will seem “ordinary” at “first glance”, but could sell for up to £500 to collectors.
In a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, an expert known as the Coin Collecting Wizard explained what to look for. He displayed an image of the modern 12-sided £1 coins now used in the UK.
“So we all know these are the pound coins we can find in our everyday change, but did you know there is a rare error version worth £500,” he said. The 12-sided £1 coins came into circulation in the UK in April 2017.
However a number of coins had also been minted in 2016 in preparation. And some of these were struck with a tiny error along its rim, making them highly sought after.
The expert continued: “At first glance it looks like an ordinary pound coin, right? Well this is why you need to look even closer for that special pound coin.”
The error means that the main date of the coin, by the Queen’s head will say “2016” while a tiny inscription on its outer rim will say “2017”. “One of the most fascinating modern £1 coin errors to look out for, the 2016 coin with a micro engraving that actually says ‘2017’,” he said.
“At first glance everything looks perfectly normal. The main date on the coin clearly reads ‘2016’ like many others from the initial batch of the new 12-sided £1 coins.
“But if you look really closely, and we mean really closely, there’s a hidden detail around the edge of the whole coin. You’ll need a microscope or a very strong magnifying glass to see it but if the micro-engraving shows ‘2017’ instead of ‘2016’ then you’ve potentially got a rare minting error on your hands.”
He added: “A few of these have popped up and collectors have paid around £500 for them. It’s a great example of how even the smallest detail can turn an everyday coin into something quite special, so it’s worth checking your change carefully.”
Experts at Change Checker backed up his advice. They said: “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.”
According to them, an example of this coin was sold for £2,500 to a buyer in Spain in 2017. However, they estimated that the value of this coin, in excellent condition, is between £300 and £500.