MAKE sure you keep an eye on your spare change as you might have a rare coin worth up to £156 in there.
The Royal Mint, which makes British coins, struck and put 29 pieces into circulation in 2011 to mark the 2012 London Olympics.
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More than a decade on and there are still some out there, and they can be worth a pretty penny.
The coins in general circulation can be found in your spare change so it’s worth digging around your wallet or purse for any.
But which ones are the rarest and most valuable? Here are the ones you will want to look out for.
What is the rarest Olympic 50p coin?
The rarest coin out of all the Olympic coins is the football piece, according to The Royal Mint.
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Just 1,125,500 of the coins, which feature the classic British sport in action, were minted.
That’s more than the rarer Kew Gardens 50p – there’s just over 200,000 in circulation.
The Kew Gardens piece was minted a few years earlier than the Olympic collection and has been known to sell for up to a whopping £895 on eBay.
The coin to fetch the most in the Olympic range in recent months is the Aquatics error coin though, which sold for £156.
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The error in the design makes it more valuable to collectors, just like a number of other rare errors out there too.
Otherwise, the 2012 aquatics coin with the updated design is one of the more highly circulated coins with 2,197,000 released.
How much are the Olympic 50p coins worth?
Remember, the value of these coins can change so it’s always worth taking each listing with a pinch of salt.
A rare piece is only worth what the bidder is willing to pay for it at that time.
Be wary of fakes that can crop up online too.
Here are the top ten rarest coins of the Olympic collection, and how much they’ve sold for recently on eBay.
1. Aquatics – sold for £156
If you find an aquatic 50p error coin with lines over the face, it could be worth a small fortune.
A small handful of this original design was put into circulation but it was then adapted very quickly to show the face above the water.
With so few of the original design out there, it’s meant the coin’s value has been pushed up significantly.
We found one of these error coins sold for £156.51 on November 11 this year.
2. Triathlon – sold for £12.50
The Triathlon coin recently fetched £12.50 on eBay, according to our research.
Keep an eye out for the design which shows three outlined figures – one swimming one cycling and one running.
The football coins are the rarest of all the Olympics 2012 coins, with just 1,125,500 in circulation.
The coin’s design shows a football pitch with a diagram explaining the “offside” rule.
We saw one on eBay that had recently sold for £23 in October.
4. Judo – sold for £15
If you find a Judo Olympics 50p coin down the back of the sofa, you could sell it for a decent price.
The coin, which depicts one barefoot fighter throwing another to the floor, had recently sold for on eBay was £15.
5. Tennis – sold for £7.50
The Olympics 2012 tennis coin depicts a ball soaring over a net.
We found that it had sold for £7.50 on eBay.
6. Wrestling – sold for £13.17
You can still get a decent price for the wrestling coin despite it being the third-rarest coin.
We found one that had recently sold on eBay for £13.17.
7. Handball – sold for £3.25
The handball coin still recently sold for £3.25 on eBay even though it’s near the bottom of our list.
The design shows a male athlete preparing to throw a ball with the blueprint of a handball pitch in the background.
8. Pentathlon – sold for £4
This coin features when the running and shooting events of the pentathlon were combined for the first time.
All in all, it shows fencing, swimming, riding, and combined running and shooting.
We’ve seen one on eBay recently sell for £4.
9. Goalball – sold for £5.50
You could sell a goalball Olympics 2012 50p for £5.50 if you find it buried in an old coat pocket.
The design shows a goalball player throwing the ball in a sport that is designed specifically for athletes with visual impairment.
10. Basketball – sold for £4.20
We’ve seen this coin go for £4.20 in a recent eBay auction.
There were 1,689,500 of the piece, which details the classic US sports, entered into circulation.
In other news, a coin expert has revealed the exact date to spot on a rare £2 piece worth more than £1,000.
Plus, the exact detail to spot on another rare £2 piece worth up to £125.
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