New Pound Coin Could Be Worth Far More Than A Quid: Here's What To Look For

Here's how you can find out the value of your new pound
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When you get your hands on the new £1 coin, be sure to keep your eyes peeled - it could be worth a small fortune.

A tiny flaw in the coin could make it a rare valuable example, according to money experts.

And ‘trial’ coins, which are now selling on eBay, could become a significant investment for collectors.

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The new £1 coin entered circulation in March
PA Wire/PA Images

Money expert Alex Cassidy, from GoCompare’s Coining It In, told the Mirror what shoppers should look out for once the coin enters circulation. 

“As with the current £2 coins, the 2017 £1 coin is bi-metallic - in this case an outer ‘gold’ coloured nickel-brass band with an inner ‘silver’ coloured cupro-nickel disc.

“Because of this, any potential die errors during production, which occurs when the dies have become misaligned, could be worth a lot of money.

“Punters should pay attention to both the floral crown on the reverse side for any rotations, as well as the Queen’s head, which should sit directly above the new bevelled edge.”

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An example of how the new £1 coin could be misaligned
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The Mirror claimed the coin could be worth as much as £250.

A similar error saw some £2 coins featuring Britannia on one side and the Queen’s head on the other end up being valued at over £100.

Her Majesty’s head appeared almost upside down on these valuable coins.

This was also a case of the die working itself loose and stamping the coin out of alignment.

It’s not just a potential flaw which could also bump up a coin’s value.

Coins with 2016 printed on them are already being flogged for hundreds of pounds on eBay.

These are legal tender but were minted before the coin was officially released this year. 

Some have already tried to flog the 2016 coins on eBay:

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An ebay user trying to sell their coin for £290
ebay

While others seemed to have a more realistic price in mind:

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£3.30 seems a more realistic price
ebay

Separately, ‘trial’ coins are also being sold by collectors online.

According to the Metro, Cassidy said: “These new £1 trial coins are fascinating, especially considering the financial precedent of the £2 trial coins in 1994, which have since become one of the most sought after collectible coins in Britain.

“If these new trial coins turn out to be as valuable as 1994’s, then anyone who gets their hands on them now could be sitting on a future goldmine.”

Some 200,000 coins were also minted with the word “trial” on them.

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A coin with 'trial piece' for sale on ebay
ebay

These coins, however, are not legal tender.

The new 12-sided £1 coin, which came into circulation in March, has a hidden high security feature which will add to it being “the most secure coin in the world”.

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The old £1 will cease to be legal tender in October
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Officials at the Royal Mint have not released any further details regarding the secretive feature, but it is one of several new design aspects intended to make the coin more difficult to counterfeit.

As well as being composed of two metals, other features include a hologram, milled edges and micro-lettering.

The old-style £1 will cease to be legal tender from 18 October 2017.

The old-style paper £5 note, however, has only a month left in circulation, ceasing to be legal tender from 5 May.