COIN collectors will be well aware of bidding wars that can occur over the rarest copies, but what about when the battle is taking place on the coin itself?
That’s what it looks like is happening on particularly rare 50p – the Battle of Hastings design.
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The Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066 between the French and English armies.
Historians believe the battle was such a significant event that it completely changed the course of history.
It changed the look of change in Brits’ pockets too, after the two worlds collided many years later.
To celebrate 950 years since the battle took place, a new coin design was issued by the Royal Mint.
The Battle of Hastings 50p came to be in 2016 – it was designed by John Bergdahl and is inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry which depicts the famous war scene.
But just how rare is the 50p coin that tells such an epic story? We explore, and we reveal how much it could be worth too.
Rare coins and VALUABLE NOTES
How rare is the Battle of Hastings 50p?
There are 6,700,000 Battle of Hastings 50ps in circulation according to Change Checker.
In comparison, there’s around 200 million regular 50ps, so the rare design only makes up a fraction.
Change Checker’s latest scarcity index update reveals where this particular coin ranks amongst the masses too
It sits in 49th place out of the coin experts’ 71 rarest that are ranked – with a score of just two as well.
That means it’s actually not very rare.
The scarcity index ranks each of the coins between one and 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 this can make it more valuable too.
How much is the Battle of Hastings 50p worth?
Allegedly a copy of the rare 50p coin sold for £600 on eBay toward the end of January.
That would have meant the coin sold for 1,200 times its face value.
But the listing has only one bid on it, so its not likely that the sale went through – and we can say for certain that no bidding wars broke out between users clambering to get their hands on it.
It’s more likely that a copy you might have in your change would go for £5 on the online auction site.
That’s what one bidder was willing to pay after beating eight others for the final sale of a copy sold at the beginning of the year.
Even though the coin is a bit more common than other rare versions, it still means it sold 10 times more than its face value – of 50p.
How rare are other 50ps in my change?
If you spot a unique design on the 50ps in your change, you could find it’s valuable, and could make a lot of money from it.
That being said, a coin is only worth what someone is willing to bid on it.
But designs with a low mintage can be more valuable to collectors as they become increasingly harder to get their hands on.
You can check in with experts like Coin Hunter, Change Checker, or The Royal Mint to see what your change is worth.
After that, try selling it on eBay – other listings on eBay will help you to see how much you could get too.
But beware of fakes – and keep in mind that a buyer could always pull out, which means the coin won’t have sold for the price it says it has.
Rare coins and valuable notes – is yours worth a mint?
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