A NEW rare coin has been issued by The Royal Mint – and it's lined up to join footie fans' collections.

It's a new £2 design that's only just been minted to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the FA Cup.

The FA Cup is one of the oldest domestic football competitions in the world.

It kicked off back in November 1871 and has now been immortalised on the new bimetallic coin.

The coin features the modern gold and silver design, with the 5th portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.

On the reverse is an image of the winner's cup itself – the trophy takes up most of the design but has its own inscription of the dates 1871-1872, and 2021-2022.

Close to the rim of the coin, is the text: "Celebrating 150 years of the FA Cup."

It's already in hot demand too and fans have been bumped on the end of queues of up to 1,000 visitors on The Westminster site, as they look to purchase their own copy.

RARE COINS AND VALUABLE NOTES

How rare is the FA cup coin?

According to Coin Hunter there are currently 63 United Kingdom £2 coin designs dated 1997 to 2022.

But this new coin isn't one that's entering general circulation so there are no exact mintage figures for it.

We might be able to find out just how rare it is when Change Checker next updates its scarcity index though.

The scarcity index typically ranks coins, new and old, on a scale of one to 100 to indicate how hard they are to find, as well as how in demand they may be.

The higher the number, the rarer the coin and therefore it's more likely to be more valuable than others.

How much is the FA cup coin worth?

As it's only just been issued, there won't be anyone who's come across it in their own change.

You can buy it right now for £8.99 on the official Westminster site though.

That means you'd be forking out four and a half times its face value.

But if you're waiting for one to crop up in your change, you might be out of luck.

It might be unlikely to find a circulated copy and the coin is only really released a commemorative Brilliant Uncirculated copy.

That's not to say it won't be accepted as legal tender if it does find its way into your wallet, but in years to come it could be worth much more.

The Olympic football 50p is worth over £30, for example – minted back in 2012, it's another footie fan favourite that's stayed valuable over time.

How to know if a coin is valuable?

Commemorative coins are often very valuable to collectors.

It's because they are usually minted in low numbers, compared to the mass of regular coins out there.

They're also special edition, and sentimental or important dates or people of interest can be popular on the designs too.

Football fans in particular will flock to this new coin, but anybody interested in the commemorative dates will be fast to snap one up too.

It's not likely to out do some of the existing rare coins in circulation though – one of the most popular coins to collect is the Kew Gardens 50p, also released to celebrate a big anniversary.

That coin can go for over £300 if the right bidder is willing to pay so much.

But it's worth keeping in mind that there's no hard and fast guarantee you'll be minted by snapping one up and selling it on.

But beware of fakes as they'll often show up in the crowd.

You can check your change with experts like Coin Hunter, Change Checker or The Royal Mint to verify if it's real though and they'll be able to tell you what it's worth too.

Rare coins and valuable notes – is yours worth a mint?

• Five rarest coins – do you have one?
• The 13 most valuable £2 coins in circulation
• How valuable are the rarest £1 coins?
• Most rare and valuable 50p coins in circulation
• Rare and most valuable 20p coins that could be worth up to £750
• Rarest 10p coins in circulation
• Rare 2p coins revealed
• How to check if you have a rare and valuable banknote

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