Blog — Rare

2016 has certainly been an eventful year for British coins and banknotes, with several stories hitting the headlines. As the year draws to a close, here is a look back at our favourites. New Polymer £5 note creates a collecting frenzy On September 13th the Bank of England introduced its first ever plastic banknote - the first in a complete overhaul of the existing paper notes to improve their durability. The early issues with low serial numbers immediately sent the public into a collecting frenzy and it was not long before some notes were changing hands online for thousands of pounds.  Beatrix...

For any coin collector – certainly metal detectorists, the excitement of uncovering hidden treasures are what dreams are made of. That was certainly the case for these five discoveries – from losing a hammer and finding a hoard of Roman coins, to uncovering sunken treasure in Israel. Each of these findings are incredible… 1) The Hoxne Hoard The Hoxne Hoard is the largest hoard of late 4th century Roman silver and gold ever discovered in the United Kingdom. The hoard of treasure was discovered on November 16th, 1992. Farmer Peter Whatling, from the village of Horne in Suffolk, had lost his hammer in...

A rare Penny Red stamp has recently become the UK’s second most valuable stamp, selling for £495,000 to an unnamed British collector. The Penny Red stamp dutifully served the Victorian public for almost 40 years. But only a few knowledgeable collectors are aware of the full significance of the plate numbers from this classic British stamp. On the right you can see Plate 78. Hidden within the borders of the stamp is the plate number – the key to the stamp’s rarity and true value.Hidden within the borders of the stamp is the plate number and each number refers back to the...