Five rarest 50p coins with exact details that are worth up to £726 – do you have one?

DO you have a rare 50p worth up to £726? We explain how to spot one.

A coin is usually classed as rare if a limited amount of the piece was put into circulation, meaning there are less available for people to get hold of.

Sometimes, the coin will have an unusual marking, and other times it can feature a familiar character or cartoon on it, which drives up demand from collectors.

Based off of past sales, if you sold all of these five coins, you could fetch a total of £726

LONDON OLYMPIC 2012 FOOTBALL OFFSIDE RULE – up to £24

To celebrate the 2012 London Olympic Games, a unique set of 50p coins was issued by The Royal Mint.

This coin is also known as the Offside Rule 50p and is one of twenty-nine commemorative 2012 Olympic 50ps issued by The Royal Mint.

The design was created by Neil Wolfson, a sports journalist and features a diagram to show how the Offside Rule works.

Around 1.2 million of the Olympic Football 50p’s were put into circulation, so you might have one lying around your house.

If you do you could also fetch a high price for the coin.

That’s because one seller managed to flog the coin for £24 on February 14 after 14 bids.

King Charles 2023 50p Atlantic Salmon Royal Mint – up to £85

This 50p piece started entering general circulation at the end of 2023 as part of a new series of coins marking the ascension of King Charles to the throne.

The coin features a portrait of King Charles III on the front, while the back of the coin depicts an Atlantic salmon leaping from the waves.

It is considered to be on one of the rarest coins in circulation, and has sold for well over £70 in the past.

If you think you have one lying around it may be worth holding on tight to it.

That’s because one seller managed to flog their 50p for £85 on February 17 after 15 bids.

KEW GARDENS 50P – £149.09

The commemorative Kew Gardens coin, which was minted in 2009, was created to mark 250 years since the botanical gardens opened in 1759.

Only 210,000 of these coins were created by the Royal Mint, making it one of the rarest pieces out there.

The front of the coin has an image of the late Queen Elizabeth II, with the engraver’s initials, Ian Rank-Broadley, below.

What makes it special is the reverse, which features a leafy vine wrapped around a Chinese pagoda.

It also has the date of the year it was made to commemorate the anniversary.

In the past, these coins have sold for up to £700 on eBay.

Recently, the coin has not sold for as much, but if you have one lying around, it can still fetch a hefty sum.

One recently sold for £142.09 after 24 bids on March 3.

Blue Peter 50p – £223

This Blue Peter 50p coin was released in 2009 ahead of the London Olympic games in 2012.

It features a cartoon of a high jumper on the back, with the design etched by a nine-year-old girl.

The image was created by schoolgirl Florence Jackson for a competition run by popular kids TV show Blue Peter.

It features a high jumper bending backwards over a pole, with a surprised look on its face.

Florence’s drawing was selected out of 17,000 entries, and she became the youngest person to ever design a coin.

Over 2.2 million of the Blue Peter 50p coins were issued, with most minted in 2011.

The coin recently sold for £223 after 13 bids on March 2.

London 2012 Olympic Aquatics 50p – £245

The London 2012 Olympic Aquatics 50p coin is considered rare because a small number of them were made with a design flaw where the lines representing water go over the swimmers face.

With so few of the original design out there, it’s meant the coin’s value has been pushed up significantly.

We found one of these error coins sold for £245 in February this year, although one sold for £30 just a week earlier.

It is also important to remember that coins are only worth how much someone is willing to pay for them.

So why it might sell for a greater sum on month, the next month buyer demand may have dwindled.

How to spot rare coins and banknotes

Rare coins and notes hiding down the back of your sofa could sell for hundreds of pounds.

If you are lucky enough to find a rare £10 note you might be able to sell it for multiple times its face value.

You can spot rare notes by keeping an eye out for the serial numbers.

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

Also if you have a serial number on your note that is quite quirky you could 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.

This is also the case for coins, you can determine how rare your coin is by looking a the latest scarcity index.

The next step is to take a look at what has been recently sold on eBay.

Experts from Change Checker recommend looking at “sold listings” to be sure that the coin has sold for the specified amount rather than just been listed.

People can list things for any price they like, but it doesn’t mean it will sell for that amount.

We explain further how you can find out if you have a rare coin worth thousands sitting around the house.