Your 20p could be worth £50

Down to your last few pennies? Due to a mistake at the Royal Mint, the 20 pence piece in your pocket could be worth £50.

It has been revealed today that the Royal Mint made an incredibly rare error and produced a batch of new-design 20p coins without the year date stamped on the back. The error wasn’t noticed until the coins had gone into circulation, and it is therefore estimated that there are between 50,000 and 200,000 currently sitting in wallets throughout the UK.

According to the Royal Mint, this is the first undated British coin to enter circulation in over 300 years – the last occasion was 1672. As a consequence of the mistake, lucky finders are being offered £50 to send the coins back to the London Mint.

Nick Hart, coin expert and spokesperson for The London Mint Office, said:

“The London Mint Office is interested in bringing the fun of coin collecting to a much wider audience. Mistakes like this not only fascinate people but also have considerable value increase significance. We believe this extremely rare error will certainly get the public looking at the coins in their pockets again and noticing the excellent new designs launched by the Royal Mint last year on our coinage.”

If you are lucky enough to find an undated 20 pence piece, you will need to register your details with The London Mint before sending in the coin to claim your reward. Just visit http://www.undated20p.com.

But coin collectors have revealed that holding on to the coin could make your lucky find even more valuable. Because of the Royal Mint’s stringent quality control procedures, such errors are exceptionally rare, so the 20 pence pieces have become an instant collector’s item, capable of growing dramatically in value over time.