Maundy money coins: what are they and how much are they worth?

MAUNDY money is handed out to pensioners by the monarch every Easter to mark the sacred celebration.

It's a Christian tradition that dates right back to 1670, and the coins could be worth hundreds.

Today is Maundy Thursday, which saw King Charles hand out coins at York Minster to the elderly following a church service.

They're specially minted silver coins distributed at the Royal Maundy service held each year at a different cathedral, abbey or royal chapel.

Recipients are chosen for their service to the church in their local area.

The amount of people who receive the coins depends on the sovereign's age - so this year the coins were handed out to 74 men and 74 women in honour of The King.

Last year, 92 men and 92 women received the coins in honour of The Queen.

What is Maundy money?

Maundy money has remained more or less the same since 1670 when Charles II began handing out stamped sterling silver coins.

The coins are a four penny, three penny, two penny and one penny piece.

After decimalisation in 1971, the face values of the coins were updated to new pence instead of old pence.

But while the portrait on modern money updates with every new monarch, Maundy money still bears the original portrait by Mary Gillick used on the first coins issued in the year of her coronation in 1953.

After the Royal Maundy service, the King will hand two leather purses to each pensioner containing symbolic alms instead of the clothing and food given in the past.

A red purse contains a small gift of ordinary coins totalling £5.50: £3 in lieu of clothing, £1.50 in place of food and £1 representing money for redemption of the monarch's gown.

Recently that has taken the form of a £5 coin and a 50p.

A white purse contains 74p in silver Maundy coins, amounting to the same number of pence as the years of the sovereign’s age including the one he is now living.

How much could it be worth?

Maundy coins are specially minted for the occasion and are legal tender, but most recipients keep them and they are highly collectable.

You can actually buy boxes from the Royal Mint website for £400 or more, or sellers might take to eBay to find buyers.

In March, a Charles II maundy money coin set sold for £422 after racking up 11 bids.