Rare 50p coin with iconic childhood character sold on eBay for 14 times its face value – how to check if you have one
ALTHOUGH we tend to go cashless these days, it’s worth raiding your piggy banks, checking yours purses and looking down the side of your sofas.
Because a pile of small change might easily be worth much more than you think.
An eBay seller in Preston listed a 50p coin with an iconic childhood design on it and got more than 14 times its face value for it.
The coin that sold on eBay for £7.05 is from the 2022 Winnie the Pooh & Friends collection by the Royal Mint.
Coin hunters should check their collections to see if they have snatched up one of the treasures.
Experts such as Coin Checker say such small details can “dramatically” increase the price of rare coins for dedicated collectors.
A set of three was available to buy on the Royal Mint’s website in 2020, but it is now unavailable for purchase.
The collection featured a 50p coin with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet plus a 50p coin with just Eeyore on.
The other 50p coin in the collection has Kanga and Roo on the front of it.
The coins were priced from £10 for a brilliant uncirculated version to £1,125 for a gold coin on the Royal Mint’s website.
They were released a century after the birth of the original Christopher Robin, the son of Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne, who inspired his stories.
The news comes just after a rare 50p coin sold for more than £2,500 because of its unusual design.
The coin, which was sold on eBay, was part of a batch of special Peter Rabbit coins produced by the Royal Mint in 2018.
And another Peter Rabbit coin was put up for sale for a whopping £25,000 because of a tiny error.
One eagle-eyed collector, who lives in Dereham, quickly noticed theirs looked different from the rest.
As the eBay listing explained, there was a bizarre “lump of metal” stuck to one of the character’s feet.
How to check if you have a rare coin.
It is worth checking your change to see if you have a rare coin and here is how to spot one.
- If you think that you might have a rare coin then it’s worth checking with an expert to see if yours could sell for a hefty price tag.
- The most valuable coins are usually those with a low mintage or an error. These are often deemed the most valuable by collectors.
- You can check how much the coin is selling for on eBay by searching the full name of the coin, selecting the “sold” listing and then toggling the search to “highest value”. It will give you an idea of the amount of money that the coin is going for.
- But it’s not always the case that a coin has sold for the amount is was listed for.
- Coins are really only worth what someone else is willing to pay for them.
- Sometimes, collectors are willing to pay more for a coin if they need it to complete a set.
Many of these coins are commemorative items, and similar rarities will often be desirable for collectors.
It’ll always depend on who you’re looking to market your coin to when it comes to sell, as the amount buyers are willing to pay will vary.
One literature fan might be keen to spend hundreds just to get their hands on it, while another might only see the coin as worth its face value of 50p.
Some key things to look out for on other coins, that might help you drive up the price too, would be a low mintage or an error that’s apparent on the design.
You can check how much a coin will typically go for on eBay though.
But remember, sometimes a coin may not have sold for the amount it was listed for, and fakes circulate online too, so keep this in mind.
Meanwhile, we have revealed the most valuable coins you can find in your change – do you have one in your wallet?
And here are the most rare and valuable 20p coins that could be worth up to £750.
Plus, the 11 most valuable two pounds in circulation – from Mary Rose to Magna Carta.
And finally, a new 50p coin has been officially crowned the rarest in circulation and experts have revealed tips to track them down.