Rare coins have amassed great interest in recent years, with lucky owners cashing in thousands of pounds on the back of them.

But what are the ones to watch for and how much could you make from your spare change?

One of the most sought after amongst collectors is the silver two-pence piece which entered circulation in 1989.

The coin has been exchanging hands for far more than face value since 2014 - with collectors willing to pay huge sums for them.

It's considered 'valuable' because it was the product of an error which saw it struck onto the nickel-plated steel base of a 10p instead of the copper-plated steel used for 2p coins.

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This meant all of the coins produced came out in silver, instead of copper.

In January 2020, one owner sold the coin for £485 on Gumtree.

It's not the first time someone's found a 'silver' 2p either.

Back in 2016, another one sold for £1,350 after being donated to charity by an anonymous donor.

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The 2p was almost thrown away, after being thought to be a fake, but after Royal British Legion volunteers in Wiltshire took it to a bank, they discovered it was incredibly rare.

At the time, Charles Vernon, treasurer of the legion in Malmesbury, said he and his wife spotted the "odd" coin when the collection was being counted.

"When we tried to put it in the 10p pile it didn't fit - it was an anomaly and stood out," he said.

It's since been handed to The Westminster Collection, a company which specialises in collectable coins and stamps.

A third "silver" 2p coin sold for £1,357 at auction in 2014 - and a few more are believed to be out there, sitting in jars of foreign currency, piggy banks or piles of old, unusable money.

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But what makes a coin so valuable and what are the signs to watch out for?

The Royal Mint implements a strict quality control system, meaning 'mules' are very rarely found in general circulation - hence why 'error' coins are so treasured.

Speaking on how to spot a rare coin, Philip Mussell, director of Coin News, said: “One is when a mistake is made by the Royal Mint, like a 20p without a date, for example, or a 1983 2p coin accidentally printed with the old wording 'New Pence'. Mistakes are eminently collectable.”

"Other collectibles are redesigns or limited edition releases. For example, an Olympic 50p with a swimmer was recently re-released.

"The first minting had a swimmer with waves obscuring her face but the designer didn't want that, so they unobscured her face and made it clear of wavy lines. That’s now quite collectable."

Think you may be sitting on a fortune? See our guide on rare 50p coins and valuable money, here.