From picking up a rare coin to selling some of the ones they already own, coin collectors may choose to use eBay in order to mix up their collection. Whether you’re an expert in the topic or not, when buying coins online, it is a good idea to make sure that you’ve done your research. This is particularly important when buying at auction, and spending a huge amount of money. Recently, the eBay user “nicradu_0”, took to the online marketplace in order to list a Tale of Peter Rabbit 50p coin.
However, it seems they will only part ways with it for a huge amount of money.
The item has been put up for sale for a whopping guide price of £500.
However, this is an auction listing, meaning the buyer could end up paying a lot more – depending on how much they and other interested parties bid.
There’s also a £1.40 standard delivery fee to pay, for a first class large letter.
Other than some photographs and a description about how this coin is circulated and supposedly “very rare”, the seller hasn’t shared many other details.
Luckily, the Royal Mint, who issued the coin, have plenty of information on hand.
So, what is known about this design?
The Peter Rabbit 2017 coin was issued two years ago, and has a mintage of 19,300,000.
The tails side of the coin was designed by Emma Noble, and depicts the mischievous character Peter Rabbit.
It makes a nod at the late author, Beatrix Potter, whose work includes The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
While the seller has insisted this coin is rare, the publication Spend it? Save it? What should you do? values this 50 pence piece at £4.
What’s more, the website Change Checker has ranked it at one on its scarcity index – making it common.
Another coin which has made headlines recently is the Grufflo 50p coin.
This new design is rumoured to be about to be available on February 19.
It will celebrate the children’s book The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson.
While the exact design is not yet publicly known, it’s likely that this coin will depict the well-known character.
Which are the rarest £1, £2, 50p, 20p, 10p and 2p coins?
Rarest £2 coins
The rarest £2 coin is the 2002 Commonwealth Games NI coin with 485,500 in circulation. This is followed by the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales which has 588,500 in circulation.
Next up is the 2015 Navy, and there are 650,000 in circulation.
Rarest £1 coins
The most rare £1 coins are all part of a series celebrating the British capitals.
The rarest of these is the 2011 Edinburgh coin, with 935,000 in circulation. Of the 2011 Cardiff coins there are 1,615,000 in circulation, while the 2010 London coin has 2,635,000 in circulation.
Rarest 50p coin
The rarest 50p coin is the Kew Gardens coin, which is also the rarest coin in circulation. It there were only 210,000 minted.
The football Olympic 50p coin has 1,125,500 in circulation, and the wrestling coin has 1,129,500 in circulation.
It is not so easy to evaluate the rarest 20p coins, 10p coins and even 2p coins as exact circulation figures are not known.
However, various versions of the coins are known to sell for large sums.
These include the dateless 20ps, which are actually part of a run from 2008. There may be between 50,000 and 200,000 of these coins in circulation.
The 1983 ‘New Pence’ 2p coin can also sell for a huge sum, up to £650.