Benjamin Britten 50p coin: how much is it worth?

THE RARE Benjamin Britten 50p coin has always struck a chord with keen collectors and is a valuable design for fans to get hold of.

The coin’s design was issued to commemorate 100 years since the birth of British composer, Benjamin Britten, and there’s a nod to both him and his music on the coin itself.

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He was born in 1913, so in 2013 the coin hit the circuit to celebrate the centenary.

On the reverse side of the 50p it even mentions this, but there are also words of poetry and Britten’s name, all set on the backdrop of what looks like sheet music too.

If you’re not a music fan or an avid coin collector though, you may not have come across the coin before. We reveal how much it’s worth.

How rare is the Benjamin Britten 50p?

Only 5,300,000 of the Benjamin Britten 50p coins exist.

In comparison, around 200 million regular 50ps are in circulation – so these are the copies most likely to be found in your change, minted in 2008 with a design printed of the bottom of the Royal Shield.

RARE COINS AND VALUABLE NOTES

But that’s a lot of change to wrap your head around, so Change Checker’s latest scarcity index update gives a good insight into where this particular 50p ranks amongst the masses.

It’s only got a measly score of 1, but it is 55th place on the chart.

The scarcity index ranks each of the coins between 1 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 therefore it’s more likely to be more valuable than others.

Despite it being common, Change Checker also ranked it 7th in the list of the top 10 coins that collectors are most after.

Sudden interest can often mean a spike in values spotted on sites like eBay, and after some avid sellers managed to make a profit of around £800 on eBay roughly six years ago, the coin has been one fans want for their own.

How much is the Benjamin Britten 50p really worth?

Change checker has revealed that some bidders offered as much as £800 for the coin in the past, but the hype was short-lived.

That being said, one recent listing on eBay told of how a circulated copy of the coin sold for an equally whopping £500 too.

But experts would be skeptical of this listing as it only had one bidder so it’s not clear that interest was high at all.

The most we’ve spotted the coin truly going for on eBay is £66 – and that’s for a sealed copy complete with a Royal Mint card, so collectors knew it was in good nick.

If you want to sell on a copy of the coin yourself, you might want to think about getting it officially verified by the change experts too, to add some value to the sale.

But when you’re buying and selling on eBay you have to keep in mind all the hidden charges, so when you add up sellers fees and postage, to name a few, you might only earn as much as the face value of the coin anyway.

Change Checker explains that If you want a good brilliant uncirculated version of the coin for your collection, you might expect to pay up to £10 for an official version otherwise.

Are other coins in my change valuable?

There are plenty of other commemorative coins that exist alongside the Benjamin Britten design.

Many are often desirable for collectors as they are produced in lower numbers than standard 50ps.

One of the most popular coins to collect is the Kew Gardens 50p and this can go for over £300 in some cases, as it’s so rare and sought after.

There’s also a collection containing 29 different designs of each of the sports from the 2012 Olympic games, and each of these will regularly sell above face value – sometimes up to £570.

Coins with errors will usually gain a lot of interest too.

But a coin will only sell above face value if someone is willing to bid that much.

Interest can change so there’s no hard and fast guarantee you’ll be minted by snapping one up and selling it on.

But if you take a look at other listings on eBay you’ll be able to determine how much your own change could go for – though fakes often show up online, so watch out.

You should also always keep in mind that on eBay a buyer could pull out, which means the coin won’t have sold for the price it says it has.

But if you’re worried, or want a definitive answer to how much your change is worth, you can check your change with experts like Coin Hunter or The Royal Mint.

They’ll be able to tell you if your change is worth what others are saying or maybe more.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk