Rare Olympics 50p coin sells for 21 times its face value on eBay – have you checked your change?

The Sun

5 hours ago

A RARE 50p coin featuring the offside rule from the London 2012 Olympics has sold for over 21 times its face value in a recent eBay auction.
The coin, part of a special set created to celebrate the Games, went for £10.51 after a bidding war.
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The listing came from a seller in Manchester, near Bolton, who described the piece as 'rare'.
The coin received 13 bids before finally being sold.
Its design shows a football pitch with a diagram explaining the offside rule, which helped it catch the attention of collectors and football fans alike.
The designer said: 'I'm a football fan, I've followed the Premier League since its inception and if I had fifty pence for every time someone asks what the offside rule is then I would be a rich man.'
A spokesperson from the Royal Mint added: 'In advance of the London 2012 Olympics, the Royal Mint held a coin design competition to produce a series of 50 pence pieces on an Olympic sports theme.
"The "competition, which was open to the general public, resulted in 29 pieces and introduced the youngest ever designer of United Kingdom coinage at just nine years old.'
This isn't the first time a 50p coin has fetched far more than its original value.
In a similar case, a Kew Gardens 50p – one of the rarest in circulation – sold for over £150 on eBay.
Only 210,000 of these coins were minted back in 2009, making them a top target for collectors.
Another Olympic 50p, this time featuring the wrestling design, went for £19 in a recent auction, nearly 40 times its face value.
The Triathlon version has also proved popular, with examples regularly changing hands online for more than £15.
Back in 2023, the Atlantic Salmon 50p created for the UK's Wildlife series was also spotted selling online for more than £12, despite being released only recently.
With just 200,000 in circulation, it has quickly become one of the most desirable new coins.
A Peter Rabbit 50p from the Beatrix Potter series sold for £11 after a flurry of bids. Its companion coin, Flopsy Bunny, also reached similar figures, both thanks to their relatively low mintage and nostalgic appeal.
Some sellers have even managed to get lucky with error coins.
One Royal Mint coin featuring a printing mistake – a misaligned image – was bought for £50, despite being a standard 50p coin in shape and size.
These cases prove that it's worth checking your change.
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