FOR the past 70 years, The Queen has featured on our bank notes and coins.
The Queen reigned from 1952, so many of us will only ever remember having her face on our change.
Rarest bank notes and coins featuring Queen Elizabeth II
The most recent image of the Queen on coins is the fifth portrait, designed by Jody Clark.
Meanwhile, on British notes a similar image of the Queen has been in place since the 90s.
Designs will need to be updated once King Charles ascends to the throne – this happened when the Queen’s father George VI, the former King of England, passed too.
The current circulating designs will be discontinued and a new design that represents the new head of state will replace them.
But it won’t all happen straight away.
Any coins or notes you have on you now will still be legal tender for a while yet.
We don’t know exactly when each design will be removed from circulation, but we will update this story once we know more.
Production of coins won’t abruptly stop either – the same goes for notes.
We’ve found the rarest bank note, 50p coin and £1 coin featuring Queen Elizabeth II that are still in circulation.
If you do have any of these coins, you could make a profit by selling them on eBay.
You can compare other rare coins on the online auction site to get an idea of how much they can be worth.
But ultimately the value of the coin depends on the eyes of the bidders.
Tools from change experts like Coin Hunter and even The Royal Mint itself can help verify your change too.
But be careful of fake coins that may be in circulation – these won’t be worth as much.
Kew Gardens 50p – worth £140
Kew Gardens 50p
The 50p Kew Gardens coin features the Chinese Pagoda at the famous London landmark of the same name, with the Queens portrait on the obverse side.
Just 210,000 were released into circulation in 2009.
It’s also one of the most valuable due to it’s recognisable design and low mintage.
A Kew Gardens 50p sold for £139 on eBay on September 9.
The coin is no stranger to a high bid though, as at HOAR we’ve previously spotted the Kew Gardens 50p selling for as much as £580.
Coins produced by The Royal Mint to mark the London 2012 Olympics are also worth looking out for.
They still attract strong interest from collectors, for example, we found circulated versions of the wrestling 50p selling for around £11 on eBay recently.
Edinburgh £1 – £10
Edinburgh £1 coin
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 935,000 Edinburgh City coins still in circulation.
On eBay, the highest price we saw one of these coins go for was £9.99.
That means you could sell it for almost 10 times its face value.
The Cardiff coin, also minted in 2011 and the 2010 London coin, are also considered to be valuable – so check your change for these ones.
£20 notes with unusual serial numbers – up to £62
A £20 note with a striking serial number
Bank notes with striking serial numbers are often worth more to collectors than those without.
A rare polymer £20 note with an interesting serial number AA01 006432 sold on eBay for £62 on September 6.
The AK47 James Bond £5 note and AK47 £10 note could also be worth a small fortune.
What will new coin designs look like?
The new style portraits will of course feature King Charles.
But he is set to face a different way to The Queen.
On all current coins her portrait faces the right, but Charles will look to the left because of a tradition that means the way the monarch faces must change with each new successor.
