A £2 coin minted with a mistake on it could be worth up to £1,000, according to an expert.
The error coin is one from a set launched to mark 75 years since the death of the science fiction novelist HG Wells.
Like other £2 coins, the error coin is made from two metals – a silver coloured cupro-nickel disc surrounded by an outer yellow nickel-brass ring.
But it appears that some may have been minted on a blank with a thicker yellow ring, wider than a normal £2 coin, according to Coin Hunter.
Error coins are valuable to collectors because the could be either one of a kind, or one of a handful, making them harder to get hold of.
Colin Bellemy, coin expert at Coin Hunter, reckons this one could be worth £1,000 to the right buyer.
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He told The Sun: “This type of coin error is incredibly rare – I have not seen any wrong blank errors like this on a £2 coin before so there are no sales records to compare.
“I’ve seen rare £2 error coins sell for between £600 and £800 so a seemingly rarer item such as this would be expected to go for higher than that – that is unless more are found.
“I would be happy to pay £1,000 to own the piece – but at auction I expect it would sell for more.”
How to spot if you have one
The HG Wells £2 coins are commemorative ones and were released as part of a set of five different coins to mark 2021.
The Annual Coin Set also includes the Decimal Day 50 pence pieces and Walter Scott £2 coin.
They went on sale in January this year and are still available to buy directly from the Royal Mint for £55.
Although they haven’t been launched into circulation, that doesn’t mean one couldn’t accidentally end up in your change.
On the reverse, the coins feature the Martian Tripod from War of the Worlds and an empty suit and top hat from his novel, The Invisible Man.
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The best way to find out if your error coin is genuine
RARE and valuable coins can go for a hefty sum – but how do you know if your coin is the result of a genuine minting error?
The best way to find out if you have an error coin is to send it to the Royal Mint museum, which will analyse it and see if it is a result of a genuine minting error or not.
It’ll normally take a couple of weeks to get the results back to you.
But remember, there’s a difference between a genuine error coin and one that is just imperfect, for example with a design that is not as clear as you’d expect.
And whatever you do, don’t be tempted to splash your cash without evidence from the Mint confirming that it’s a genuine error.
The error coins are easier to spot if you hold them next to a normal £2 coin.
You’ll notice that the yellow outer ring is thicker and that more of the design bleeds out of the silver centre.
There is also a mottled effect on the inner section of the coin, explained CoinHunter, probably because it has been minted onto the blank of a foreign coin.
On the front, the Queen’s head bleeds into the yellow outer ring and there is a gap between the lettering and the silver centre.
CoinHunter points out that it weighs less than a normal £2 coin too, at 8.9g compared to 12g.
The diameter is 1mm more than the standard 28.5mm of a £2 coin and 0.2mm thinner.
The Royal Mint hasn’t confirmed how many HG Wells coins have been minted and it’s not clear how many could have been made in error.
Coin Hunter adds that the coins is being sent off to be inspected by the Royal Mint and that the owner may look to sell it at a later date.
Of course, coins are only worth what someone will pay for them so if you’ve got one at home there’s no guarantee that it will sell for as much.
You can find out how much your £2 coins are worth on eBay using Coin Hunter’s valuation tool.
A different circulated £2 error coin featuring the Shoulders of Giants design has previously been valued at £1,300.
We’ve also reported before how Richard Bird, a window cleaner from Hull, found an “extremely rare” new £1 coin printed with two different dates – and experts estimated it could be worth up to £3,000.
