This rare 1p piece just sold for £72,000

There's a reason you should always check your change.

Obviously because you might have been short-changed by a mathematically-challenged shopkeeper. But also because those little bits of shrapnel that just get slung at the bottom of your wallet or in a drawer at home could be worth silly money. If you're one of these people that just tosses all your small coins in a jar and leaves them there for years and years, it's definitely worth going through them. Your grandparents probably have loads lying around. Why? Well, a rare one penny coin has just sold at auction for a ludicrous £72,000. That's why. That one old coin broke the world record for the price fetched at auction for any copper or bronze coin at AH Baldwin and Sons in London.

AH Baldwin & Sons

The reason the 1933 Lavrillier Pattern Penny is so rare is because there were only a handful of them minted that year. This was because a surplus of penny coins were made the previous year, so no more of the currency were produced in 1933...except for seven special ones bearing the 1933 date, which were minted for "ceremonial and record purposes". The Lavrillier Pattern Penny is even rarer, with only four in existence - hence the huge sum of money paid. While the likelihood of you finding one of these rare nuggets down the back of your granddad's sofa is virtually nil, there are other coins that can fetch a pretty penny. A rare 2p piece sold for a cool £800 recently, and a special Kew Gardens 50p fetched If you want to see how much your shrapnel can fetch, there's some up on eBay - like this Benjamin Britten 50p going for £1,700.

Ebay

There's a brilliant website called ChangeChecker.org which will tell you how rare your special edition £2, £1 and 50p coins are. This handy list also shows you the top 10 rarest coins in circulation right now - you might want to stick them at the back of your wallet for a rainy day. You could be sitting on a gold mine.