New 20p Coin Could Be Worth £50 – Here's How to Spot the 'Holy Grail' of UK Change Collecting

One thing that's a major hot topic right now is rare coins. Owning a certain kind of piece could set you back a few quid, if not a few hundreds.

A TikTok user has shared details of a rare 20p coin that could be lurking in your change - and it’s worth a small fortune.

The coin collecting enthusiast, known as @CoinCollectingWizard, shared the information with his 210,400 followers on the video sharing platform.

He said: "Can you spot the rare 20p coin with no date?

"This rare 20p coin sells for £50. This 20p is known as the undated 20p mule error, considered by man as on of the holy grails of UK change collecting. The undated 20p is always at the top of any coin collector's wish list."

The coin was released in 2008, but an "unknown amount" of these 20p pieces were struck with the wrong dye, resulting in no date on the obverse and reverse side.

This happened due to a mix up at the Royal Mint when the Royal Shield of Arms design was introduced, the TikTok user claimed.

The Royal Mint confirmed this is the first time in over 300 years where a coin entered circulation without a date.

"It makes it extremely sought after by coin collectors," he concluded. "So always check your change."

And fans rushed to the comments section thanking the user for the information, while others admitted to owning a kind.

One said: "I have one of these in my change jar at the moment."

Another added: "I've got one of these in my collection."

A third wrote: "I've never seen one of these before, thanks for sharing."

But others were left confused by the coin's value, as some claimed they had seen the coin sell for more at auction.

One said: "I thought these sold for more than £50?"

Another added: "I'm sure I saw one of these sell for over £100 at auction recently."

A third wrote: "I've seen these sell for a lot more than £50."

But according to Change Checker, the coin does typically sell for around £50.

The website states: "The coin is struck on a 20p planchet but has the 2003 Royal Shield of Arms design on both the obverse and the reverse, without a date either side.

"The coin is struck in cupro-nickel and weighs 5.00g.

"An unknown number of these coins were struck and entered circulation.

"The coin is listed in the 2023 edition of the Standard Catalogue of British Coins as mint error number ME2008.1."

How to tell if a rare coin is in your pocket

Luckily for you, there are a number of ways to look out for a rare coin in your stash.

Firstly, examine the coin's date – this is one of the easiest ways to tell if a coin is rare.

For example, the rarest 50p coin in circulation is the Kew Gardens design from 2009.

Only 210,000 of these coins were ever made, so if you spot one of these in your change then you could be quids in.

Also check for errors, because this tends to affect its rarity as well.

One example includes the 20p coin that was accidentally struck on a 50p blank in 2016.

Mistakes like this happen very rarely, so it could be worth a lot of money.

But more importantly, the coin's mintage is what could signify how scarce it really is.

For example, if there's fewer coins out there in circulation, everyone would be racing to get their claws on it.

One example includes the 2017 Northern Ireland 10p coin, which had a mintage of just 160,000.