The five rarest 50p coins worth up to £721 revealed – do you have a valuable one?

THE RAREST coins can often sell for hundreds of pounds if they’re snapped up by the right person.

Experts have defined a list of those that are the hardest to get hold of, but also make a major mint.

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There are tonnes of different 50p designs out there, and with each new incarnation seems to come lower and lower mintage figures.

Change Checker updates it scarcity index, which looks at these figures and ranks coins, every three months – and with the last having taken place in November, we’re due a fresh look very soon.

For now though, heavy hitters like the ever popular Kew Gardens 50p remain at the top of the charts, closely followed by some of the 2012 Olympic coins in circulation.

It’s been over 50 years since the country went decimal and millions of coins have been made in that time – some of them rare and valuable.

We switched shillings for pounds and pence back in 1971 on February 15, and the coins we know today were born – including the 50 pence piece.

From one day to the next interest can change with these new coins though, so there’s no hard and fast guarantee you’ll be minted, snapping a rare one up.

That being said, a coin will only sell above face value if someone is willing to bid that much.

If you look at other listings on eBay you’ll be able to determine how much your own change could go for.

But be cautious of fakes, as they’ll often show up online.

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.

For now though, here are the rarest 50p coins, according to how many were minted and how they rank on Change Checker’s latest scarcity index.

Keep an eye out for them and you could be quids-in too:

1. Kew Gardens 50p – £721

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The Kew Gardens coin tops both Change Checker’s scarcity index and the Royal Mint’s rarest coins update.

Bidders often battle it out to get their hands on this coin as it is so rare and one of the most sought after in circulation.

Just 210,000 of them were released into circulation, and the coin pictures the Chinese Pagoda at the famous London landmark.

Typically the coin will go for up to £370 as it did with one we recently saw on eBay.

But one rare coin supposedly sporting a minting error has sold for as much as £721 on the online auction site.

Error coins will go for hundreds as they’re also produced in very low numbers, so they can sometimes be rarer than the low mintage coins themselves.

2. Triathlon 50p – £16

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This Triathlon 50p piece shows athletes doing the three sports which form the triathlon – swimming, cycling and running.

Only 1,163,500 were put into circulation in 2011.

We’ve spotted one which went for £16 on eBay.

3. Wrestling 50p – £16

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There were nearly 1.13million of these coins made in 2011.

This 50p shows two athletes wrestling in front of a crowd, with one being thrown to the ground.

It is one of several Olympic themed 50p coins that are among the rarest.

Complete with its Olympic card, we’ve seen this one being sold for as much as £16 on eBay.

While it’s not in the hundreds, that’s still over 30 times more than its face value of 50p.

4. Judo 50p – £27

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Over 1.16 million of these Judo coins were put into circulation in 2011 to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The coin shows two athletes locked in a judo fight, with one throwing their opponent to the floor.

If it’s not in mint condition though, you’ll need to point out the scratches in your listing to make sure you’re clear with collectors as to what they’re getting.

A seller in Hull managed to make £27 on eBay for a copy they had of the coin.

5. Football 50p – £31

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Another coin created to commemorate the Olympics of 2012 is among the rarest and this features an explanation of the offside rule.

There were just over one million put into circulation.

We’ve seen this one go for £31 on ebay.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk