For some coin collectors, eBay may be a good place to go in order to browse and potentially purchase rare coins. It’s worth bearing in mind however, that sellers set their own Buy it now and starting prices on this online marketplace. What’s more, some coins may be branded “rare”, when they’re actually fairly easy to get hold of. However, a 50p which may be of particular interest has recently been spotted on the website.
The coin itself is of the Olympic 2011 Aquatic Swimmer, which has lines over their face.
The 50p has been listed by the eBay user “sasa6241”, who has said it’s “100% Genu”.
They put it up for auction for a starting price of just one pence, but a number of interested parties has meant that the selling price has soon shot up.
At the time of writing, there’s been seven different bidders, and the current bid stands at £97.01.
The buyer can get hold of it via free collection in person – with the item currently being in the Rochester area.
The seller looks very serious about the coin, having posted a series of photographs – including an image of its weight and the 50p against a tape measure.
They’ve also written: “There is lots on line to weed out the fakes, I have scales that weigh to 0.1g and can provide pictures as well.”
So, what is this coin worth?
This 50 pence was released in late 2011, the mark the 2012 Olympic Games.
They were issued in stages, with the first packs being sold through the High Street newsagent W. H. Smith.
The first release has a swimmer depicted on it, with lines over the face – suggesting she is under water.
However, when the coins came into general circulation, the head is clear of the lines.
These latter coins have a mintage of 2,179,000.
According to the publication Spend it? Save it? What should you do?, it’s worth £4.
In comparison, the first issues – which seems to have an unknown mintage – are valued at more than £750.
How does this 50p compare to the “rare” Peter Rabbit 50 pence coin which is listed on eBay for £890?