How valuable are the rarest one pound coins? From the 1986 Flax to the 2011 Edinburgh motif

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NEED a little extra cash? You could be sitting on a fortune – if you’ve got a rare £1 coins is hiding in your wallet.

With some of the most unusual coins fetching up to £45 on eBay, you could earn yourself a pretty penny.

 

The new 12-sided design for the £1 coin – but it’s the old style round coins that could be worth more than a quid

Here are the coins you need to keep an eye out for if you want to be quids in…

What are the rarest £1 coins?

Here are the ten rarest £1 coins still in circulation as well as what they are currently selling for on eBay.

2011 Edinburgh £1

According to the blog ChangeChecker, the rarest one pound coin currently in circulation is the Edinburgh £1.

The coin was part of a series depicting the four capital cities of the UK and is the only £1 coin with a mintage below one million.

ChangeChecker’s calculations suggest there are probably somewhere between 600,000 – 800,000 Edinburgh City coins still in circulation but this number is decreasing rapidly.

On eBay, the highest recent price we could find for an Edinburgh £1 was £45,

Other Edinburgh coins in less good condition sell on the auction site for a far more modest price of £5.

On eBay, Edinburgh £1 coins can sell for up to £45

2011 Wales Cardiff City £1

This coin was also part of the capital cities series, but it is slightly less rare, with an estimated circulation of 1,615,000.

Designed by Stuart Devlin, goldsmith and jeweller to the Queen, this coin depicts the circular Coat of Arms of Cardiff as the principal focus to represent Wales.

The highest price we could find on eBay for the coin was £10.50.

2010 London City £1

A third coin released as part of the capital cities of the UK series was the London £1.

The coin shows the portrait of the Queen and on the reverse side shows the four official badges of the capital cities of the UK, with a magnified image of the badge of London.

ChangeChecker estimates there are 2,635,000 coins left in circulation.

Even though the London £1 coin is more scarce than the Cardiff one, it’s currently selling for more.

We found good condition  examples selling for up to £36, but most sell for less than £5.

The coin features a magnified image of the badge of London

2014 Thistle and Bluebell £1

In 2014, the Royal Mint launched two new £1 coins – one for Northern Ireland and one for Scotland.

This Scottish coin design features the thistle and bluebell, and is the fourth rarest coin in the UK.

There are an estimated 5,185,000 still in circulation.

Coins boxed and in excellent condition can fetch up to £14.74 on eBay.

This coin design features the thistle and bluebell for Scotland

1988 Crowned Shield £1

This coin depicts one of the UK’s heraldic emblems – the royal arms of the queen, topped by the crown of St Edward.

There are 7.11 million in circulation making it the fifth rarest pound coin there is.

There are some special commemorative versions on eBay that have never been in circulation and sell for up to £12.55.

In good condition, a coin that has been in circulation can sell for up to £10.

The 1988 Crowned Shield coins sell for around £10 on ebay

2013 Rose and Oak £1

The rose and oak coin was part of a floral set along that launched in 2013.

It’s still fairly unusual with around 5,270,000 still in circulation.

Unfortunately, they’re not selling for much at the moment, the highest recent price we could see was £2.99 on eBay.

The coin shows the rose and the oak to represent England

2014 Flax and Shamrock £1

The 2014 flax coin was released alongside the thistle coin, to complete the series of four coins that began in 2013.

It continues the tradition of honouring the home nations of Britain by featuring familiar floral emblems.

However in this series, the emblems are paired together with other less well-known floral symbols.

This design features the shamrock and flax for Northern Ireland.

It will fetch up to ££5.99 on eBay if the coin is in mint condition.

Others sell for around £2.

This design features the shamrock and flax for Northern Ireland

2013 Daffodil and Leek £1

This daffodil pound coin was released in 2013 as a floral set alongside a rose pound coin.

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, while the leek is also a national emblem of Wales.

The pair of coins marked the first release of a commemorative £1 since 2011.

Mint condition coins will fetch up to £6.57 on eBay.

Others have sold recently for as little as £1.50.

The coin features a daffodil – the national flower of Wales

2010 Belfast £1

There are more than 6.2 million 2010 Belfast coins in circulation, meaning it is the ninth rarest £1 coin in the UK.

The design is part of the ‘City Series’ collection, and uncirculated versions can sell for up to £18.35 on eBay.

Versions that have been in circulation tend to go for a lot less, but if the condition is great you can still get up to £7.

The Belfast coin is the eighth rarest £1 coin in the UK

1986 Scotland Lion Rampant £1

This design is the tenth most rare pound with approximately 29,752,525 still in circulation.

It features a Lion Rampant which is used to represent Scotland.

The term ‘rampant’ refers to the position of the lion standing upright with forelegs raised and claws unsheathed.

This symbol was first used to represent the Scottish kingdom by King Alexander II in the 13th century.

A mint version can fetch up to £24.99 on eBay.

This is one of the most valuable £1 coins you can find

How can you check the value of a coin?

If you think you’ve got a coin that could fetch a few bob then it’s worth getting it verified.

The Royal Mint can tell if your coin is legit and not counterfeit, but doesn’t do valuations.

Although, a spokesperson for The Royal Mint told the Sun Online that it is considering offering a valuation service in the future due to growing interest from customers.

In the meantime, if you want a coin valued you could contact Sovereign rarities –  a team of coin specialists, collectively with over one hundred years of experience.

Stanley Gibbons, which specialises in stamp collections, also offers a free valuation service through its rare coin division, called Baldwin’s.

For more common coins you could try selling them online, via a website like eBay.

Here are the most valuable 50p coins in circulation that could bring home £3,000 if flogged together.

Beatrix Potter 50ps, Suffragettes and Battle of Hastings designs are also considered rare and could fetch you a bit of cash.

Think you’ve got a rare coin? Here’s our guide to find out if it’s worth a mint and cash in.