A RARE coin featuring the famous Kew Gardens has sold for hundreds of times its face value.
The 50 pence piece was released in 2009 in small numbers and is often in demand among collectors.
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That means that they are willing to pay much more than the 50p it was originally worth.
The rare Kew Gardens 50 pence coin has sold on eBay for £170.99 after more than 30 bids from interested collectors.
The successful bid is even higher than a recent sale of the coin for £142 so it’s worth keeping an eye out in your spare change.
The latest sale appears genuine as there were many bidders and the seller has positive feedback, though sales can fall through after successful bids.
The listing for the rare coin which sold on December 12 says that is circulated but does not state what condition it’s in.
In the latest rankings of the rarest 50p coins, Kew Gardens once again topped the chart.
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The coin features the Chinese Pagoda at the famous London landmark and the date 2009.
How much is the Kew Gardens 50p coin worth?
Only 210,000 of them were ever made and put into circulation in 2009 – far fewer than most other 50p coins.
For example there were nearly half a billion of the 1997 Britannia 50p put into circulation.
Other rare 50p coins to look out for feature the 2012 Olympics and depict various sporting events,
But they are far less valuable selling for between £5 and £25, though you’d still make a profit if you found and sold one of them.
Generally speaking the fewer coins minted, the rarer they are and the more someone could be willing to pay to get it, especially if a buyer is looking to complete their collection.
There’s no hard and fast rule of how much a coin is worth though, and it’s really only worth what someone is willing to pay.
Back in February one of the Kew Garden coins sold for a whopping £707 – the most we’ve ever seen.
Some coins are also worth more than their face value of they have a error. For instance a regular £1 coin was printed wrong and sold for £156.
If you’re buying or selling coins then you also want to look out for fakes.
The Royal Mint can tell if your coin is legit and not counterfeit, but doesn’t do valuations.
Rare coins and valuable notes – is yours worth a mint?
How can I sell a rare coin?
If you think you’ve got a coin that could fetch a few bob then it’s worth getting it verified.
Once you’ve found out whether the coin is real or not, you have a number of options – either selling it through a coin dealer, at auction or on eBay.
If you want to sell the coin you’ve found in your spare change on eBay then you need to know the risks.
Remember to set a minimum price that is higher or at the very least equal to the face value of the coin.
Even if your coin “sells” on eBay for a high price there’s no guarantee that the buyer will cough out.
It its terms and conditions, the auction website states that bidders enter a “legally binding contract to purchase an item”, but there’s no way to enforce this rule in reality.
The most eBay can do is add a note to their account acout the unpaid item or remove their ability to bid and buy.
This is because in order to sign up to the website users do not need to put in valid bank or PayPal details before making a bid.
If a bidder refuses to pay, then the only option for sellers is to give “second chance offers” to other bidders or relist the item.
For items of a high value eBay recommends that sellers put a limit on their listing to approve bidders.
It means bidders must email you before placing a bid but NOT that they must pay out the cash if they win.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
