Yahoo Finance Here's why you should be collecting £5 coins
Forget about putting aside a couple of round pounds for posterity – what you should be looking to get hold of is £5 coins.
According to experts, such is the rarity of £5 coins, their value to collectors far outstrips their face value.
“In the past, collectors were able to get £5 coins from banks and post offices, but nowadays some of the older designs are like gold-dust,” says website ChangeChecker, which monitors demand and rarity of coins.
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In a blog, the site said often the least interesting releases create ultimately the rarest and most in-demand coins.
ChangeChecker identifies the £5 coin minted in 2011 to mark Prince Philip’s 90th birthday. While the design was nothing to get excited about, only 18,730 of these coins were struck in Brilliant Uncirculated presentation packs making it one of the rarest £5 coins ever.
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They now change hands for more than £65 on auction sites such as eBay.
“Coins with a lower mintage are often the most sought-after by collectors in years to come,” says ChangeChecker.
“And the coins with popular themes are timeless pieces of numismatic history that only become more and more desirable as time passes.”
Another £5 coin bearing the face of the Duke of Edinburgh was revealed this week. It was created to mark the Queen and Prince Philip’s 70th wedding anniversary.
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The set of double-headed platinum coins, showing both the Queen and the Duke, will be released in November.
“One thing you can be sure of though is the historical interest of £5 coins will be worth more to future generations than the £5 face value now,” adds ChangeChekcer.
“There is no doubt that the importance of £5 coins ensures the coins remain sought-after and collectable.”
