Rare 50p coin sells for more than 300 times its face value after lengthy bidding war – exact details to look out for

The Sun

3 days ago

A RARE 50p coin has sold for more than 300 times its face value after a lengthy bidding war.
The 2009 Kew Gardens coin was sold for £136.99 on eBay after one lucky bidder fought off offers from 18 others.
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This rare find was minted in 2009, and was created to mark 250 years since the botanical gardens opened in 1759.
To spot this coin, you need to look on the tails side.
It features a leafy vine wrapped around a Chinese pagoda and has the word "Kew" written at the bottom.
The front of this coin has an image of the late Queen Elizabeth II, with the engraver's initials, Ian Rank-Broadley, below.
There are just 210,000 of these coins in circulation, making it a very rare find.
That is compared to The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III 50p, which has been minted five million times.
Plus, you might be able to get more than £136 for the piece.
In the past, we have seen this coin sell for up to £700 on eBay.
More recently, it sold for £134 on the auction website for £110 after 12 bids.
But you might not always fetch such a high sum for the piece, with one seller on eBay flogging the same coin for £34 after 11 bids.
Spot a Rare £1 Coin Worth Up to £500: The Key Details Every Collector Should Know
The Kew Gardens piece is not the only rare coin that can be worth a pretty penny.
Last week, the Blue Peter Olympic 50p piece sold on eBay for £165.
It was released in 2009 ahead of the London Olympic games in 2012.
The coin features someone doing the high jump on one side, a design created by eight-year-old Florence Jackson from Bristol.
The final design was chosen from over 17,000 entries as part of a Blue Peter competition.
How to spot rare coins and banknotes
Rare coins and notes hiding down the back of your sofa could sell for hundreds of pounds.
If you are lucky enough to find a rare £10 note you might be able to sell it for multiple times its face value.
You can spot rare notes by keeping an eye out for the serial numbers.
These numbers can be found on the side with the Monarch's face, just under the value £10 in the corner of the note.
Also, if you have a serial number on your note that is quite quirky, you could cash in thousands.
For example, one seller bagged £3,600 after spotting a specific serial number relating to the year Jane Austen was born on one of their notes.
You can check if your notes are worth anything on eBay, just tick "completed and sold items" and filter by the highest value.
This will give you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some notes
But bear in mind that yours is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
This is also the case for coins, you can determine how rare your coin is by looking a the latest scarcity index.