YOU’LL want to dig around your spare change as one rare 50p coin could sell for a whopping £1,600.
There are a number of pieces in circulation that were struck incorrectly, making them hot property for collectors.
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It has seen 2p coins sell for £1,000, while other “error” 50p coins have gone for £100s.
But you often have to keep an eye out for specific details on these types of coins which tell you they’ve been made incorrectly.
The Aquatics “lines across the face” 50p coin first entered circulation in 2011 – only around 600 were struck in total.
The more common version of the coin has the swimmer clearly visible.
But on the rarer version, lines are clearly visible across the swimmer’s face.
Colin Cooke, from Coin Hunter, said the 600 in circulation were the original design that was withdrawn.
He said: “The first version of the 2011 Aquatics 50p with water lines over the swimmers face was only sold in Royal Mint packs – before it was withdrawn and replaced with the version that can be found in change.”
While the coin can sell for a fair few quid if you find one, Colin warned about “fake” versions.
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He said: “On many fakes – the letter C in pence is more open than on the genuine coin.”
Make sure you’re keeping an eye out in your spare change for the 50p coin – it could earn you hundreds of pounds.
Bear in mind though, a coin is only worth what the buyer is willing to pay and you might not always get hundreds of pounds for it.
For example, we spotted one of the Aquatics 50p coins selling for just over £80 on eBay recently – the piece received a total of three bids.
Another, which received a total three bids, sold for just £5.
How to spot a rare coin
A coin is usually considered rare if it has a low mintage figure – this is set by The Royal Mint.
A mintage figure relates to how many of a coin were made, so the lower it is the rarer the coin is.
You can find out what coins are rare and how they look on The Royal Mint’s website.
But some are also considered rare due to manufacturing errors, like the Aquatics error 50p.
They have been known to sell for hundreds of times their face value because there are so few of them.
If you want to find out if your coin was made incorrectly, you can check out our list of rare coins here.
Meanwhile, you can use websites like changechecker.org which regularly posts about error coins.
How to sell a rare coin
When it comes to selling a rare coin, there’s a number of ways you can do it, including through Facebook, eBay or in an auction.
But be wary of the risks. A number of people have been targeted by scammers on Facebook.
Crooks say they’re planning to buy the item, and ask for money upfront for a courier to send to your home.
But you end up sending free cash to them and they never have any intention of picking your item up.
It’s always best to meet in person when buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, and in a public place.
And most sellers prefer to deal with cash directly when meeting to ensure it’s legitimate.
The safest way to sell a rare coin is more than likely at auction. You can organise this with The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service.
It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.
You can get in touch via email and a member of the valuation team will get back to you.
You will be charged for the service though – the cost varies depending on the size of your collection.
lastly, you can sell rare coins on eBay – but it does charge you 10% of the money you made, including postage and packaging.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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