Being a coin collector could net you a small fortune, as these super rare coins that sold for thousands of pounds show.
From coins that came into circulation in a minting error to pennies that were made to celebrate special occasions, there are rare coins out there that could create a small fortune for you.
Many Brits will be scrabbling behind their sofa when they see the eye-watering prices some of these coins sell for.
If you find a rare coin of Queen Anne from 1703 you’ll almost be a millionaire, while one of Queen Victoria could bag you £50,000.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at some of the rarest coins that could earn you thousands…
You could make a small fortune if you have a look around your home for spare change. FEMAIL has revealed the coins that you can sell for thousands of pounds
1703 Queen Anne VIGO Five Guinea
This is an extremely rare coin and could almost make you a millionaire.
From 1703, the Queen Anne VIGO five guinea could leave you with more than £900,000.
It is made from gold captured at the Battle of Vigo Bay, when Anglo-Dutch forces defeated French and Bourbon Spanish ships off the coast of northwest Spain.
The battle happened on 23 October 1702 during the second year of the War of the Spanish Succession.
The coin was minted the following year.
From 1703, the Queen Anne VIGO five guinea could leave you with more than £900,000, so get looking
Few of these coins were struck and there are thought to be just 20 in existence now.
It is one of the most desirable and lucrative coins to find, so make sure it’s not down the back of the sofa!
Paddington Bear 50p from 2019
This was proven recently when a 50p Paddington Bear coin released by the Royal Mint in 2019, was put up for auction by a Glasgow seller, and sold for a whopping £1,500 on February 13.
The coin is said to be the fourteenth rarest 50p and features the famous bear standing outside Buckingham Palace and waving a Union Jack flag.
A ‘rare 50p’ coin featuring the nation’s most loved bear, Paddington, for a whopping £1,500 after being listed on auction site Ebay
The Paddington Bear coin released by the Royal Mint in 2019, was put up for auction by a Glasgow seller, and was sold on February 13
According to Change Checker’s Mintage figures index, the Paddington at the Station 50p is the most sought after of all the Paddington Bear coins, and has a mintage of 5,001,000.
It was part of the 2019 series which also shows Paddington standing outside other famous locations.
The iconic bear also appeared on designs with Paddington standing outside The Station, The Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
1d penny – Issued for Edward VIII reign in 1937
A rare coin minted in celebration of the reign of Edward VIII was split into 4,000 shares last year, setting would-be buyers back £50 for a piece of the penny.
Insured at £200,000 ahead of an auction last year, the copper 1d piece was due to be issued widely from 1937.
The penny (pictured), valued at £200,000, was split into 4,000 shares each costing £50. It features Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne
The copper 1d piece (picture) was due to be issued widely from 1937. The reverse side features Britannia
But plans were abandoned in December 1936 following the abdication crisis which resulted in Edward relinquishing the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
In 1978, the penny – one of around 50 ‘pattern’ coins produced to evaluate the design – sold for £25,000 and in 2019 fetched £133,000.
Round £1 coin
After a Royal Mint error, a rare round £1 coin was released in 2017.
The coveted coins are round instead of 12-sided – and featured the new £1 coin design stamped on one of the old £1 coin blanks.
These coveted coins are round instead of 12-sided thanks to a Royal Mint error, meaning they are worth a fortune
They feature the new £1 coin design (left) stamped on one of the old £1 coin blanks (right), an error made by mistake
According to TimeLine Auctions, the coin had an estimate value of £1,000-1,400, and earned itself a pre-bid of £900 back in 2018 when it went up for sale.
Other versions of the rare coin also sold for hundreds in 2018. The first one, discovered by someone from Burnham-on-Sea, sold on eBay for £205 after 22 bids.
A similar error occurred in 2017, with the ‘dual-dated £1 coin error’, which showed the year 2016 on one side and the year 2017 on the other.
The alphabet collection Z 10p
This coin was released as part of a 10p alphabet collection.
The Z coin represents James Callaghan’s iconic striped zebra crossing.
This coin was released as part of a 10p alphabet collection. The full set could get you more than £400
It was minted in 2019 and there are fewer than 230,000 in existence.
Complete sets of the alphabet collection could rake in hundreds of pounds, perhaps even more than £400.
Single European Market Fifty Pence Coin 1992-1993
There were only 109,000 minted and released to commemorate the UK’s Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the completion of the Single European Market.
After the introduction of smaller 50ps this coin was withdrawn in 1997, making it a rare find.
This stunning masterpiece of a coin could rake in between £45 and £55. While not as rare as others, it might be a more likely find in the nooks and crannies of your home
The coin features a sprawling set of stars below the ‘UK’.
These coins could rack up between £45 and £55.
Una and the Lion gold five pound piece
This coin from 1839 has a portrait of a young Queen Victoria as well as a second portrait of Queen Victoria walking a lion.
However, the image of the Queen walking the lion was actually intended to show her as mystical character Lady Una.
This coin minted in 1839 could get you around £50,000. It features a portrait of Queen Victoria, both as herself and as Lady Una from The Faerie Queen, Edward Spenser’s 1590 epic poem
Lady Una was a character in Edward Spenser’s 1590 epic poem The Faerie Queen.
It features a portrait of Victoria, as well as a image of Queen Victoria walking with a lion. This was intended as a depiction of the Queen as Lady Una, who is a character from the open Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.
This rare coin is worth between £42,000 and £50,000.
Edward III Gold ‘Double Leopard’ Florin
If you find one of these coins, you’re looking at hundreds of thousands in the palm of your hand.
It was minted in 1344 and only circulated from December 1343 to July 1344.
There are only three known surviving coins of this type, so if you have a fourth, speak up now and you could garner hundreds of thousands of pounds
There are only three surviving coins that are known about and all were found in the River Tyne in 1857.
It is worth six shillings, or in today’s money they are the equivalent of 30p, but if you find one you could bag more than £450,000.
‘New Pence’ 2p Coin from 1983
This two pence coin from 1983 features a remarkable error, saying ‘new pence’ instead of ‘two pence’.
In fact, from 1971 to 1981 2p coins were meant to have the words ‘new pence’ before they were then changed.
These 1983 coins say ‘new pence’ when they should say ‘two pence’. Each one of these coins could sell for more than £700
Yet in 1983 a number of coins were created by mistake with the old wording.
One of these coins could sell for more than £700.
Elizabeth II European Championships Gold Proof Two Pound Coin 1996
To celebrate the Euros being played in England in 1996, around 2,000 of these coins were minted.
The competition saw Alan Shearer become top goalscorer but England were knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual champions Germany (of course, on penalties).
This rare coin from 1996 could leave you around £800 richer if you find it in your purse
The circles on the reverse of the coin represent the 16 nations that took part in the competition.
Although not as rare as others on our list, these footy coins good garner around £800.
Elizabeth II London Olympics Aquatics Fifty Pence Coin 2011 (First Design)
This is a rare 50 pence piece that was created a year ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
However, after it was minted, bosses decided the swimmer’s face was too obscure and it was redesigned.
This botched first design of a swimmer created ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games could fetch £1,500
The second design made sure the waves missed the swimmer’s face.
These original designs are so rare that they could fetch £1,500 each.
George V Penny from 1933
If you find one of these coins stuffed down the side of the sofa or languishing in a long-forgotten coat pocket, you’ll be in luck.
As there were plenty of pennies in circulation in 1933, no more were meant to be created.
If you have one of these extremely rare coins from the reign of George V, you could sell it for around £72,000
A few pattern pennies, usually meant to evaluate new coin designs, were minted though.
Convention in the 1930s was for new buildings to have pennies buried beneath their foundation stones.
For this reason, three were minted to be buried and a few more for Britain’s museums.
The last time one was sold was in 2016, for £72,000.
Elizabeth II Twenty Pence Piece without date (2008)
More than 136 million 20p coins were minted between 2008 and 2009.
Yet an error in November 2008 created a little fewer than 250,000 coins without a date.
This erroneous design made the mistake of leaving out the year it was minted, 2008, meaning each of these coins could sell for £50
This oddity makes them all rare collectable coins.
If you spot one in your wallet, it could sell for £50.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk