Rare 50p coin sells for £147 – is there one in your change?

A RARE 50p coin has sold for a huge £147 on eBay – could there be one hiding in your spare change?

Coin collectors often sell their rare finds on eBay, and they can fetch considerably more than their face value.

Some 20 bidders took part in the race for the Kew Gardens 50p coin.

Bidding ended yesterday at 12pm and one lucky winner has pocketed the coin and expanded their collection.

Bidding started £1 but quickly started rising as the first bid was £12. Two days later the price raised to £99 before finishing at £147, five days after that.

That’s a profit of £146.50, for a 50p coin – and works out almost 300 times its face value.

According to Royal Mint, the Government-owned business which produces coins for the , the Kew Gardens 50p is often the coin that first sparks an interest in new coin collectors.

Royal Mint claims the rare coin is the most sought after 50p in the country, and particularly the original 2009 design.

Only 210,000 were released into circulation, with most being released to private hands, meaning this design is extremely rare.

The reverse design was created by Christopher Le Brun RA and features the famous Chinese Pagoda with a decorative leafy climber that twines in and around the tower.

At the time of its creation, the demand for the 50p denomination was not high, which lead to the design’s low mintage.

The Royal Mint decided to honour the 50p by including it in its 50 years of the 50p 2019 British Culture Set.

It issued a 2019 year-dated Proof coin 10 years after the launch of the original Kew Gardens 50p. This was also after a major renovation of the pagoda at Kew.

The 2019 edition bears a different effigy of Her Majesty The Queen than the original 2009.

If you’re interested in becoming a coin collector, be warned, experts have warned that many fake coins end up in circulation so be careful when bidding online.

Coin Hunter can help you to verify your rare coins and place a value on them.

If you’ve got one in your pocket, carefully consider whether you want to keep the Kew Gardens 50p in your collection or auction it.

Ultimately in the bidding war the value of the coin is determined by the eyes of the bidders themselves meaning you could earn a very high or low profit.

What is Kew Gardens?

Located in Richmond in south west London, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew aims to “understand and protect plants and fungi, for the wellbeing of people and the future of all life on Earth”.

It aims to end the extinction crisis and create a world where nature is protected, valued and sustainably managed.

The gardens is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Kew Gardens 50p isn’t the only coin that is being sold at a high price. A rare Blue Peter 50p coin recently sold for £253.

A £10 note in your wallet could be worth hundreds. Here’s how you can spot the rare note.

In celebration of Pride month, this year Royal Mint launched a new 50p coin featuring a rainbow design.