William Shakespeare £2 coin: how much is it worth?

KEEP an eye on your spare change as you might have a rare coin lurking worth as much as 15 times its face value.

Rare coins and bank notes can fetch their owners hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds.

When it comes to rare coins, they are usually valuable if a low amount of them was struck and put into circulation.

But sometimes you can bag yourself a hefty amount of cash if the piece was struck incorrectly during the manufacturing process.

Three William Shakespeare £2 coins were introduced into circulation in 2016 but now sell for much more than that.

The designs were created to honour the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.

You can collect a tragedies, histories and comedies coins, which commemorate the different styles of Shakespeare's plays.

Keep an eye out for the tragedies coin in particular, as there is a rare version with a minting error which you can sell on for much more.

How much are the William Shakespeare £2 coins worth?

How much you'll get for any of the three Shakespeare coins depends on what the buyer is willing to offer.

EBay is one place you can sell rare pieces and we found a recent sale of the histories coin where the seller received £5.

The tragedies and comedies coins have gone for £3 and £2.80 respectively recently too.

Meanwhile, one buyer also paid £9.50 for the set of three.

Other commemorative coins in your change could be worth more, such as the Beatrix Potter 50p which has sold for as much as £8 on eBay.

The Public Libraries 50p isn't as rare but you could still double your money by selling it at auction.

You can also check our list of the rarest 50p coins in circulation to see if you've got one.

Look out for a low mintage or an error that's apparent on the design – like with the Shakespeare error coin – which could push up the price.

If a coin has a high mintage figure then it's more likely that you'll find one in your change.

But that also means it's not as rare – so collectors typically won't be willing to spend as much on it.

You can check how much a coin will usually go for on eBay.

But remember that sometimes a coin may not have sold for the amount is was listed for.

Fake rare coins circulate online too, so keep this in mind.

If you're worried, you can get your change verified by the Royal Mint.

You can also join our new Sun Money Facebook group to share stories and tips and engage with the consumer team and other group members.