People urged to check for rare 1p coin worth £127,000

An expert has urged Brits to check their jars of coins at home for a certain coin that could be worth a staggering £127,000. This highly sought after penny coin is among the “most expensive” British coins ever, with only seven ever produced by the Royal Mint.

According to an expert, the coin in question was produced during the reign of King George V. But it is important to note that only those dated 1933 are worth a lot of money now so you need to make sure you check the date.

This is because of the fact there was low demand for penny coins that year with some of the few produced in 1933 placed in the walls of buildings or given to museums. In a TikTok video, an account named The Coin Collector UK explained what to look for.

“£127, 000 pounds for this old one penny coin,” he said. “So the date that you want to be checking your pennies for is the year 1933.”

To demonstrate what he meant he used a similar penny coin from 1938, indicating the date along the bottom of the coin. The Coin Collector continued: “See, just down here this one is a 1938 which is actually the closest thing I have. Unfortunately I don't have the original one.

“And the 1933 penny will be a George V penny. See it’s definitely one you want to be looking out for, it’s an extremely rare coin. One of the most expensive British coins ever.”

The expert revealed how much they can fetch at auction. “As I said, seen in auction in 2016 in America for over £127,000. It's believed that only seven of these were ever produced in 1933 due to low demand for coinage during that year.

“Three of these were put into the walls of buildings. Two were given to museums, one to the Royal Mint, which I’ve actually seen in person and another to the British Museum. Then two were sold off into private collections, one of which sold for £127,000.”

He added: “So, it's always worth checking your old jars of coins in case you do have a rare 1933 penny.”

In the comment section of the video the expert clarified that there could have been more than seven of the coins made. He said: “Believed seven are made, could be more, some may have gone walkabouts etc.” According to the Royal Mint Museum, no record was kept at the time of how many pennies dated 1933 were made “but it is thought to be no more than six or seven”.