A RARE Kew Gardens 50p has sold on eBay for almost £200.
The highly sought after coin sold for £192 on the online auction site, on September 26.
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The coin features the famous Chinese Pagoda found on site at Kew Gardens in the UK, immortalised in 2009 on 210,000 coins that were released into circulation.
Compared to the millions of everyday 50ps that are minted, the Kew Gardens design is very rare.
That makes it especially attractive to collectors who are keen to snap up a version any chance they get – they’re usually willing to pay a steep price for one too.
This particular listing saw the coin sell at 384 times its face value.
The coin sold for its close-to £200 eventual price after 42 offers from 10 different bidders.
They worked their way up from starting bids of £1, which quickly made their way up to triple figures in the space of just two days.
The auction in full was only live for seven days, but it was enough time for coin hunters to be hooked, and hike up their offers.
The Royal Mint recently revealed that the 50p is also in the top ten rarest coins in circulation, beating a number of other commemorative 50ps, older 10ps, 20ps and more.
This rare status helps explain why its value has rocketed so much within the online community.
It’s not the highest amount we’ve seen the commemorative coin fetch online though, as one bidder walked away paying as much as £707 earlier in the year.
More recently, a seller earned £234 from a listing of the coin design, which caught the attention of 52 bids on eBay.
Meanwhile, another seller cashed in on £142 for yet another version of the rare coin.
Have you got a rare coin in your change?
If you happen to discover a similar rare coin in your change and try listing it on eBay, you could find yourself quids-in too.
You can try getting the coin verified by The Royal Mint to help reassure buyers that they’re paying for the real deal – and this could help push up the price too.
In this most recent listing, the seller describes the 50p as being a “genuine Kew Gardens 50p piece in good circulated condition”.
You can also compare other rare coins on eBay to see how much they have sold for as reference.
That way you’ll also be able to check you’re not overpaying for a rare coin, or underselling a version you might have already.
Plus, online tools from change experts like Coin Hunter are helpful to see how much it could be worth.
In Changechecker‘s latest scarcity index on 50ps, Kew Gardens topped the charts once again.
It’s been in that spot on the scarcity index for years, as the rarest and most sought after of commemorative coins, even sparking bidding wars amongst collectors on eBay in the past.
If you’re looking for other ways to verify the coin though, the number of bids on the listing can help you establish that the coin is the real deal.
This listing had more than 40 bids before closing at the weekend, showing collectors were keen.
The seller has a very positive profile on eBay too, and with a strong rating comes greater trust from prospective buyers, so keep this in mind if you’re looking to buy or sell on eBay as well.
This particular seller has had 203 positive ratings within the last 12 months.
However, do remember that if you’re selling on eBay a buyer could pull out, which means the coin won’t have sold for the price it appears to have.
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