I thought I would kick off Money Matters Monday with a blog about money. Actual hard cash. UK notes and coins to be precise.
You have probably got a new ‘plastic’ £5 note by now and you may have also read about the new £1 coin coming into circulation this year. You may be wondering why the UK is currently getting all these new notes and coins.
The new polymer £5 note came into circulation in the UK last year and it will be followed by new £10 and £20s over the next few years. They have caused quite a stir for reasons caring from selling for more than they are worth on eBay, not being veggie friendly and being virtually indestructible except when in the presence of an eraser!
On the 28th March 2017 a new £1 coin will be released. It will have a new shape (12 sides) and a new bimetallic gold/silver colouring. It will also feature a latent image, milled edges and micro-lettering.
BUT WHY?
To put it plainly, it is because of counterfeiting. It is estimated that 1 in 30 £1 coins in circulation are fake! Changing and ‘improving’ notes and coins helps in the fight against fraudulent currency.
It’s NOT a new trend!
Back in 1971 the UK moved to the decimal currency we have today from shillings and crowns.
The 5 pence coin was reduced in size in 1990, followed by a smaller 10 pence in 1992 and also the 50 pence in 1997.
UK bank notes have also been changed fairy frequently since they became fully printed in 1855 (prior to this they were hand written/signed). With the average design having about a ten year ‘life span’. In my life time (36 years), I can vividly remember at least 3 different series of note designs!
As with all past currency changes there will be a co-circulation period for the new £1 coin (ie a time where you can spend or swap your old design pounds) where both forms will be seen as legal tender in England. This should give companies who handle cash time to train staff on the new currency and for machines that take coins to be updated. For the £1 coin this co-circulation period will be between March and September 2017. In October 2017 the old round £1 coin will cease to be legal tender and will no longer be accepted in commercial settings (shops etc), however most banks will still swap them for a short time after this date. Coins deposited in banks and the post office after March 2017 will be removed from circulation and destroyed by the Bank of England.
Will your old £1 coins become worthless?
The answer to this is not clear cut. While you will not be able to spend them, they still might be worth something to a coin collector. But before you think you will rake in thousands for your old spare change – wait!
There are specific releases/designs of coins and notes that are considered rare and sort after. This is usually down to the minted amount, release date or misprints.
The recent press about the new polymer £5 notes being worth much more than face value is a prime example.
It is important to remember here that it is only the notes with the serial numbers starting with AA01 that are being looked for collectors. This is because they were the first batch made.
Any other serial number is only worth face value I am afraid! Except of course these four that micro-engraver artist Graham Short has drawn on.
With rare coins it is best to check the mintage amount on Change Checker to see how many of that coin were made. The lower the mintage, the rarer the coin and the note attractive the coin would be to a collector.
Examples of these would be:-
Kew Gardens 50p (very low mintage of just 210,00),
The undated 2008 20p,
The 1983 2 pence that says ‘new pence’ on the tails side.
This being taken into consideration I think that this will be the £1 coin to hold onto if it falls into your hands :-
It is the only £1 coin to have a mintage of less than 1 million but the odds of it ever being worth thousands are sim.
Laura x
Coupon Clippers UK 