The Royal Mint has explained what makes the coins so unusual
A humble British coin you might expect to find at the back of the sofa has sold for more than 224 times its shop value. And it’s all because it’s missing one important detail.
The 2008 coin, which features Queen Elizabeth II on the front and the Royal Shield of Arms on the reverse, sold on eBay for £44.95 because it was minted with an error. The coin has no date on it and the error is thought to have happened due to an incorrect pairing of the old and new coin designs.
According to The Royal Mint, a minting mistake in 2008 resulted in many ‘mule’ or undated 20p coins accidentally entering circulation. The exact number of affected coins is unknown but the Royal Mint say it is fewer than 250,000 coins out of the 136million they minted in 2008-09. This means there are more out there to be found.
A spokesperson for The Royal Mint said: “In November 2008 a number of 20p coins were incorrectly minted, resulting in the coins being undated. This problem affected less than 250,000 coins of the 136million 20p pieces minted in 2008-09.
“This was due to the previous obverse (the ‘heads’ side) being used with the new reverse (the ‘tails’ side) design, meaning the year of issue did not feature at all. These coins remain legal tender and still have a face value of 20p.” The listing describes the 20p coin as a ‘highly sought after’ and a ‘staple of British error coin collecting’. The eBay listing reads: “Genuine Royal Mint undated 20p error coin, found in circulation.
“Shows normal wear consistent with age and use, but all details remain clear. No cleaning or tampering – exactly as discovered. This is the famous Royal Mint ‘mule error’ where the obverse and reverse dies don’t match, resulting in a 20p coin having no date anywhere on the coin.
“Only a small number escaped into circulation, making them highly collectable and sought after by error coin collectors. These coins were accidentally released in 2008 and have since become a staple of British error coin collecting.”
One keen collector paid £44.95 to snap up the 20p piece on September 10. That means the coin was sold for more than 224 times its shop value and will be sure to have Brits checking their change for the same error.
First issued in 1982, the 20p is one of the UK’s newest circulating denominations. Since then, there have been several different variations of the coin.
In 1998, the coin was updated to feature Maklouf’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, while the reverse of the coin depicts a crowned Tudor double rose in a design by William Gardner.
In 2022, Ian Rank-Broadley’s portrait of the Queen was replaced by Jody Clark’s design. Gardner’s reverse design featured on the 20p until 2008 when it was replaced by the definitive ‘shield’ design that currently appears on UK coins up to the value of 50p.
When united and carefully arranged in the correct order, the 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p, make up the Royal Arms in its entirety.
