A COIN featuring a picture of Kew Gardens is the rarest 50p in circulation, experts say.
But how much is it worth and why is it so rare? Here’s what you need to know.
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The Kew Gardens coin is much sought after and comes in top of the Royal Mint’s ranking of the rarest 50p coins.
There’s been more than 70 different designs on 50p coins over the last 50 years.
But year after year, the Kew Gardens coin comes top of lists for rarity and scarcity and they can go for hundreds of times their face value.
Why is the Kew Gardens 50p coin rare?
The Kew Garden coin features a pagoda from the famous botanical gardens in south west London.
It is the rarest according to the Royal Mint and they should know because they make them.
They say the there are only 210,000 Kew Gardens 2009 50p coins minted and in circulation.
That’s far fewer than most coins – there are more than one millions of the next rarest 50p.
With your average 50p coin in circulation there are millions, and there were nearly half a billion of the 1997 Britannia 50p put into circulation.
Is your small change worth a fortune?
IF you think that you might have a rare coin then you might be able to make a real mint.
The most valuable coins are usually those with a low mintage or an error.
These are often deemed the most valuable by collectors.
You should check how much the coin is selling for on eBay.
Search the full name of the coin, select the “sold” listing and then toggle the search to “highest value”.
It will give you an idea of the amount of money that the coin is going for.
You can either choose to sell the coin on eBay or through a specialist such as ChangeChecker.org.
If you choose the auction website then remember to set a minimum price that is higher or at the very least equal to the face value of the coin.
Even if your coin “sells” on eBay for a high price there’s no guarantee that the buyer will cough up.
It its terms and conditions, the auction website states that bidders enter a “legally binding contract to purchase an item”, but there’s no way to enforce this rule in reality.
The most eBay can do is add a note to their account for the unpaid item or remove their ability to bid and buy.
So the Kew Gardens coin is rare because there are not many of them.
But the coin is not only rare, it’s also scarce.
Rarity refers to simply the number, while scarcity takes into account demand too.
So you could have five coins in circulation making them rare, but they would only be scarce if a lot of people wanted them too.
The scarcity of a coin can change depending on if there is more or less demand.
This is something that can affect how much a coin is worth.
The dangers of selling your coins on eBay
THE most valuable coins are usually those that have low mintage numbers or those with an error.
These are often deemed the most valuable by collectors.
Once you’ve found out whether the coin is real or not, you have a number of options – either selling it through a coin dealer, at auction or on eBay.
Sell it at auction
If you’ve got a coin that you would like to sell at auction then you can contact a member of the British Numismatic Trade Association.
They usually deal in very old coins but they may be able to help you assess whether it’s worth selling your coin at auction or whether it would be valuable to a collector.
Sell it on eBay
If you want to sell the coin you’ve found in your spare change on eBay then you need to know the risks.
Remember to set a minimum price that is higher or at the very least equal to the face value of the coin.
Even if your coin “sells” on eBay for a high price there’s no guarantee that the buyer will cough up.
In its terms and conditions, the auction website states that bidders enter a “legally binding contract to purchase an item”, but there’s no way to enforce this rule in reality.
The most eBay can do is add a note to the buyer’s account about the unpaid item or remove their ability to bid and buy.
This is because in order to sign up to the website, users do not need to put in valid bank or PayPal details before making a bid.
If a bidder refuses to pay, then the only option for sellers is to give “second chance offers” to other bidders or relist the item.
For items of a high value, eBay recommends that sellers put a limit on their listing to approve bidders.
It means bidders must email you before placing a bid but NOT that they must pay out the cash if they win.
How much is the Kew Gardens coin worth?
Coins are really only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
The Kew Gardens coin has sold for more than it’s worth many times, but there can be quite a price range.
We’ve seen it sell on eBay for £250, for £203, £186 and £150.
The Royal Mint says that demand for the Kew Gardens coin was low when it was first minted in 2009.
But its popularity has grown among collectors and has topped ChangeChecker’s scarcity index for the past few years
According to Coinhunter, the Kew Gardens 50p sold for £156.25 on average, based on nearly 200 sales since the start of the year.
The condition and quality of the coin can influence the price.
The rare Kew Gardens coin is not to be confused with the same coin which was reissued in2019.
Although it features the same design, many more were made and they are not worth as much.
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There are also many rare 2p coins – do you have one worth up to £600 in your pocket?
Earlier this month, we revealed that a rare 50p Snowman coin with the wrong colours on it is selling for up to £128.
It’s pretty rare if a batch of error coins makes it into circulation, which makes them very attractive to collectors.
Royal Mint celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Decimal day with 50p coin
This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
