I sell coins at auction every day – how to spot a 50p worth £50 and mule 20p that sells for £30

AUCTIONEERS have shared their top insider tips to spot valuable coins, including a 50p worth £50 and a 20p that could sell for £30.

Rare coins are collectors’ items and can fetch hefty prices at auction – but it’s not just ancient currency that can make big money.

There are plenty of unusual coins in circulation that could be worth much more than their face value.

There are many reasons for this, but usually it’s because they’re unique or rare in some way.

For example, if they include errors from the minting process, special edition designs or are just from low minting runs, meaning there aren’t as many in circulation.

Here are some of those rarer coins to keep your eyes peeled for.

Kew Gardens 50p – £50

The Kew Gardens 50p is one of the best-known rare coins in circulation.

The design was created by Christopher Le Brun and features Kew’s famous Chinese Pagoda with a decorative leafy climber twining around the tower. 

Just 210,000 of the coins were released and most are in private collections now, although there’s a chance one could still turn up in your loose change.

Oliver Miller, managing director of Bishop and Miller auctioneers, said: “The Kew Gardens 50p got quite popular as a well-known coin that was in circulation and the Royal Mint was clever enough to start producing presentation packs, so you could buy it from the Mint knowing it was a rarer coin.

“This one you could get £50 for, so it’s a pretty good mark up.”

Commonwealth Games – up to £30

These £2 coins were issued in 2002 to mark the Commonwealth Games, which were held in Manchester that year.

Separate designs were created for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but they’ve not held their value equally.

Miller said: “The interesting thing with these is that only a couple of the countries will make the money.

“Northern Ireland and Wales are worth about £30 each, while the England one is only worth about £10 – it’s a big difference and that’s to do with the minting of them and how rare they are.”

According to the Royal Mint, 588,500 Wales coins were issued and 485,500 were released for Northern Ireland.

1992-1993 50p – around £60

Some coins get their value from simply being uncommon, and that’s the case with the double-dated 1992-1993 50p piece.

Tenishia McSweeney, appraiser at Prestige Pawnbrokers of Channel 4’s Posh Pawn, said: “The 1992-1993 50p coin had a very low mintage of 109,000 and is valued at around £60.”

The coin may be rare, but it is in circulation and if you find one in your wallet you could earn a huge mark-up.

Mule 20p – around £30

The 2008 Mule 20p is an example of a coin that has gained value as a result of a mistake in the minting process.

The Mule 20p was the first coin in more than 300 years to be put into circulation without a minting date stamped on it.

About 250,000 of these coins were distributed and they can turn up in loose change.

Miller said: “There are coins where there’s been a mistake or a lack of communication and something has been sent out that shouldn’t have been sent out into circulation.

“The most famous example is a 2008 undated 20p, also known as the mule 20p. That 20p will be worth about £30.

“There was a lot of hype around [the coin] at the time, which really inflated the price and they were going for a few hundred pounds each, but as time goes on that interest dies down.

“It’s now worth less than before but that £30 is considerably more than 20p so it’s still a good coin to find, definitely.”

Beatrix Potter half whiskers 50p

The Beatrix Potter half whiskers 50p was a result of an error in the minting process.

It’s an example of a quirky mistake having made a coin rare and valuable.

Miller said: “[It’s called] half whiskers because the rabbit literally has half its whiskers and [he coins] will fetch about £40 each.

“These ones really can turn up in change, so are well worth looking out for.

“But it has to be half whiskers – if you’ve got full whiskers there’s no money there.”

The Beatrix Potter coins were released to celebrate 150 years of the best-selling children’s author.

What to do if you find a rare coin

If you think you might have a rare coin, it’s important to look after it and seek the right advice.

Miller said: “Do not clean it and do not damage it. If you clean it, it’s worth nothing and if you damage it the price shoots down.

“Then buzz over an email to a coin auction house. You really want to deal with people who deal with coins not your general auctioneers.

“They’ll guide you to know if you have a rare one or not.”

How to spot rare coins and banknotes

Rare coins and notes are highly desirable among specialist collectors and could make you a mint if you find one.

Some of the most in-demand pieces can sell for hundreds of pounds.

If you spot an unusual-looking coin in your change, keep hold of it.

Then look up exactly how rare it is. Usually, the rarer it is, the more valuable it is.

You can find out what coins are rare and what they look like on The Royal Mint’s website.

You can also determine how common the coin is by looking at the scarcity index on specialist coin collector sites.

To work out how valuable it might be, take a look at similar coins that have recently sold on eBay or even at auction.

Remember to look at “sold listings” to be sure that the coin has sold for the specified amount rather than just been listed.

It’s not just coins – rare monetary notes can sell for multiple times’ their face value.

This includes fivers and rare £10 notes, as well as higher denominations.

One of the main distinguishing marks of a rare note is the serial number.

These numbers can be found on the side with the Monarch’s face, just under the value of £10 in the corner of the note.

Low serial numbers or something quite quirky can see you 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.

It will give you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some notes.

But do bear in mind that yours is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

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