Rare 20p coin sells for £1,400 at auction – how to spot valuable change in your pocket

A RARE 20p coin has been sold for a whooping £1,400 at an auction thanks to a unique detail.

The valuable gem minted in 1990 has sold at Tennants Auctioneers in Harrogate, North Yorks.

The historic coin was created for a British territory overseas - which was pulled out from circulation for its poor quality.

The blemished piece of change was struck in copper-plated steel blank and it was sold as part of a set.

Lucky Alun Barker picked up the "one-of-a-kind" item on Ebay for just £50 six years ago.

The coin collector was left astonished when the coin was confirmed as genuine by the Royal Mint a few months later.

Alun was given a letter of accreditation to prove its authenticity.

Experts from Tennants Auctioneers had initially expected the rare item to fetch at least £1,200 under the hammer.

However, the sale "exceeded" their expectations and the 20p coin finally sold for £1,400.

Coin Cataloguer Will Dobbins said: "This was a really good sale overall, selling 98% of the lots offered, and we were delighted to achieve such strong results for our vendors."

The set came in a unique red leather case with the King's royal cypher and the words 'specimen coins 1973' engraved.

The sale included other incredible currency items - a George VI and a 'Coronation' gold proof set from 1937 created by Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci.

The historic coins sold for an eye-watering sum of £11,000.

The sale also featured a rare Pattern Crown coin from 1966 which sold for £2,3000.

Mr Dobbins said: "The coin was minted in sterling silver, and it was designed by Anthony Foley and was one of only 100 struck.

"This pattern features the conjoined busts of Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II, with a striking image of Britannia hurling thunderbolts on the reverse."

The auction also sold a recent four-coin gold set from 2022 to mark the Queen Elizabeth II passing for £1,400.

How do I check if my coin is rare?

Rare coins and valuable notes can be worth tens of thousands of times their face value.

But sometimes it's just tiny differences which make them so lucrative.

The most valuable coins tend to be ones with low mintage numbers or an error.

Those qualities typically make them valuable to collectors.

For example, "New Pence" 2p coins from 1983 often sell for hundreds of pounds due to a mintage mistake - they stopped being called "New Pence" in 1981.

Meanwhile a 50p Olympic coin, which was released to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics, has a small error where the water passed directly over the swimmers face.

Perhaps the safest way of selling rare coins is to sell them at auction - to do this, contact The Royal Mint's Collectors Service.

It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.

You'll need to enquire via email, and a member of the valuation team will contact get back to you.