Watch as coin expert shows rare detail on 50p coin that makes it worth £7,000
A coin expert has given an insight into an extremely rare coin, which has sold at auction for a staggering £7,000.
A TikToker known as the Coincollectingwizard shared a video on the platform about a rare and extremely valuable Kew Gardens gold proof 50p.
Only 1,000 of these rare coins were made and only 629 of them were actually bought by the public, making them even more valuable to collectors.
It’s been stuck on gold because it’s a collectors “proof” coin.
The silver versions, which you can spot in your change, were released into circulation in 2009 to celebrate the 250th anniversary or London’s Kew Gardens.
For every new design, the Royal Mint often makes a batch of proof coins which are specially made for collectors, often printed on different metals and not for circulation.
These make them more valuable to collectors because they cost more to produce and they’re in mint condition.
The ultra rare version of the Kew Gardens 50p was estimated to fetch between £5,000 and £6,000 at auction.
But it ended up fetching a whopping £7,000.
In the video, the Coincollectingwizard explains: “The coin features a design by Christopher Le Braun, celebrating the Royal Botanical Gardens.
“It was first released in 2009 to celebrate 250 years of the iconic West London landmark, and has since become the holy grail of UK coin hunting.”
A similar auction five years ago saw the goldproof sell for £2,000.
The regular Kew Gardens 50p, which you may find in your change, has been known to sell for around £700 on eBay.
The design of the coin, its condition and whether or not the coin is in circulation also affects how much it could be worth.
You can easily figure out how rare a coin is, by checking its mintage figures.
This relates to how many coins were produced by The Royal Mint.
If a coin has a low mintage, it means there’s less in circulation and is therefore rarer and it could potentially be worth more than its face value.
The Kew Gardens 50p is the rarest of all the 50p pieces, with only 210,000 in circulation.
The design features the famous Chinese Pagoda with a leafy chamber that twists around the tower.
How to spot a rare coin
A coin is usually considered rare if it has a low mintage figure – this is set by The Royal Mint.
A mintage figure relates to how many of a coin were made, so the lower it is the rarer the coin is.
You can find out what coins are rare and how they look on The Royal Mint’s website.
But some are also considered rare due to manufacturing errors, like the Aquatics error 50p.
They have been known to sell for hundreds of times their face value because there are so few of them.
If you want to find out if your coin was made incorrectly, you can check out our list of rare coins here.
Meanwhile, you can use websites like changechecker.org which regularly posts about error coins.
How can I check if my error coin is genuine?
RARE and valuable coins can go for a hefty sum - but how do you know if your coin is the result of a genuine minting error?
The best way to find out if you have an error coin is to send it to the Royal Mint museum, which will analyse it and see if it is a result of a genuine minting error or not.
It’ll normally take a couple of weeks to get the results back to you.
But remember, there’s a difference between a genuine error coin and one that is just imperfect, for example with a design that is not as clear as you’d expect.
And whatever you do, don’t be tempted to splash your cash without evidence from the Mint confirming that it’s a genuine error.
How to sell a rare coin
When it comes to selling a rare coin, there’s a number of ways you can do it, including through Facebook, eBay or in an auction.
But be wary of the risks. A number of people have been targeted by scammers on Facebook.
Crooks say they’re planning to buy the item, and ask for money upfront for a courier to send to your home.
But you end up sending free cash to them and they never have any intention of picking your item up.
It’s always best to meet in person when buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace and in a public place.
And most sellers prefer to deal with cash directly when meeting to ensure it’s legitimate.
The safest way to sell a rare coin is more than likely at auction. You can organise this with The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service.
It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.
You can get in touch via email and a member of the valuation team will get back to you.
You will be charged for the service though – and the cost varies depending on the size of your collection.
Lastly, you can sell rare coins on eBay – but it does charge you 10% of the money you made, including postage and packaging.