There are thought to be thousands more of them out there
A 50p coin has fetched more than £113 following a bidding war on eBay, and you might just have one lurking in your pocket. Many coins are sought after by collectors, with some worth enormous amounts of money.
This specific piece ranks among the UK’s rarest, and whilst it carries a face value of 50p, specialists estimate the coin is actually worth approximately £145, suggesting this eBay vendor may have sold themselves slightly short. The Royal Mint is thought to have produced roughly 210,000 of these coins, which were issued in 2009 to mark the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens.
The piece features the famous Chinese Pagoda from the gardens on one side and the late Queen’s portrait on the other. The coin was listed on eBay under the title “KEW GARDENS 50P COIN – 2009 – CIRCULATED – RARE COIN 100% ORIGINAL”.
With an opening price of £9.99, a 14-way bidding battle saw this rise and rise, before a closing sale price of £113.85 secured the item. The purchaser must also pay £5.23 for postage.
Experts believe there remain hundreds of thousands of Kew Gardens 50p coins in circulation, meaning one could very well be hiding in your spare change. If you do discover one in your purse, piggy bank, or down the sofa, the first thing you ought to do is look at the date on it.
This is because the Royal Mint issued another batch of these coins in 2019 to celebrate 50 years of the 50p, and this edition generally doesn’t fetch as much. That said, these coins have been known to reach up to £80 on eBay, so it could still be well worth putting it up for sale.