How do you tell if you’ve got a valuable £5 note or rare coin in your purse…and the ones that are dud deals
NEW plastic £5 notes have been making some people a mint while others are being conned out of thousands of pounds on eBay - but here's how you can actually cash in.
Gareth Wright thought he had struck gold when a note with the serial number AK47 attracted a winning bid of £80,100 on eBay.
But he has been left empty handed after the buyer recently revealed he was a drug dealer.
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The penny dropped when the trickster said he wouldn't be paying up because he was "waiting on a cocaine shipment".
Poor Gareth’s hopes of buying his mum’s house and then travelling to South America off the back of a fiver have now been dashed.
Notes with the serial number AK47 are particularly popular thanks to wannabe gangsters and the machine gun connotations.
However, the online auction site is under no obligation at all to ensure buyers pay up.
There are ways to cash in on a new fiver though.
Is your plastic five pound note worth thousands?
The new plastic fivers fetching the highest prices are the ones that contain serial numbers beginning with 'AA01'.
This means they were produced in the first batch of new five pound notes.
These four digits are then followed by six more numbers.
The smaller the number in this six-digit figure, the earlier it was printed in the batch.
The earlier it was printed, the more valuable the note is.
Serial numbers are printed down the left hand side of the banknote and it also appears in the bottom right, below the clear window.
The first note – featuring the serial number AA01 000001 – was presented to The Queen which means there are up to 999,998 other fivers with the AA01 prefix.
The ones that fetch the biggest bucks contain serial numbers starting 'AA01' - meaning they were produced in the first batch.
The serial number can be found on the reverse side of the note, which features a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. It is printed down the left hand side and also appears in the bottom right below the clear window.
The first note – with a AA01 000001 number was presented to The Queen leaving up to 999,998 other fivers with the AA01 prefix.
Collectors are willing to splash out over sixty times the five pound note's face value on eBay.
Tim Mitchell sold 11 of the polymer notes for more than £400 because they had the serial number.
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Cancer survivor Gail Meikle also capitalised on the craze by flogging a note with a slight misprint for £1,699.
She wrote on eBay: "Very rare £5 note, printing error just below Queen’s head, a line of 5s below line and other out of [alignment], AK09. Excellent condition passed two hands, no marks, slight soft crease only but very good condition.”
It isn't just notes that can make money however - there are five 50p coin designs worth up to £3,000.
A special-edition WWF design released in 2011 features the famous panda logo at the centre and is decorated with 50 other animals, including dolphins, frogs and butterflies.
The coin is popular amongst collectors and commonly sells for £200-plus.
A rare Kew Gardens commemorative coin can fetch £50, while a 50p explaining the offside rule can change hands for £10.
A full set of London 2012 coins can be flogged for around £35, and an original aquatic coin, which shows water passing directly over the swimmer’s face, can reach up to £3,000.
The EC Commemorative 50p is now out of circulation but they can be flogged for £20.
A dateless 20p coin could also make you £100.
Between 50,000 and 200,000 20p coins with no date on either side were released in 2008 because of an error at the Mint.
The mistake was made as officials moved the date stamp to the front of currency, from the back.
While if you have a rare 1983 ‘new pence’ 2p coin you could be in line to make up to £650.
A number of £2 coins are also worth more than you would expect.
A Guy Fawkes coin, with an inscription reading 'Pemember Pemember the Fifth of November' rather that 'Remember Remember the Fifth of November' could fetch £16.
While a limited edition coin commemorating Charles Dickens released in 2012 can sell for £8 and 2011 designs celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Mary Rose and the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible are both being picked up for about £6.
Some Euro coins are also worth a small fortune - with some listed on eBay for 14 times their original value.
A 2 euro coin depicting a famous a Greek bronze statue of a discus thrower is currently on eBay for £28.
The Greek 2 euro coin isn’t the only one that is worth looking out for. The coins with a low mintage (eg, not many of them were produced) are the most sought after.
A Finnish 2 euro human rights coin could fetch £22.78 on eBay – eleven times its original value - and an Austrian 2 euro 'state contract' coin from 2005 may land you a tenner.
French EU presidency coins can make £4.50 – double the original value - and Germany’s first ever 5 euro coin - is worth £32.50.