Rare Kew Gardens 50p sells for £142 on eBay – how to make a mint from your spare change
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A RARE Kew Gardens 50p coin has sold on eBay for more than £140.
The valuable coin for exactly £142, as bidders battled it out to claim for their own.
The popularity of the coin meant it sold for 284 times more than its face value.
It's little surprise, as we often see similar pieces sell for hundreds of pounds on the online auction site.
But £142 isn't the most we've seen it go for before.
Buyers have been willing to pay £185 in the past, or a whopping £250 for their own copy.
One bought another version for as much as £281 back in October too, and one listing racked up an impressive £370 by the time the sale closed.
Why is it so popular?
The Kew Gardens 50p is one of the most sought after - and not just in the circle of 50ps.
rare coins and valuable notes
It's the rarest 50p coin according to a number of experts, and that places a high value on it.
Only 210,000 were minted in 2009 when the coin entered circulation.
The Kew Gardens 50p features an image of the famous London landmark, with an image of the Chinese Pagoda that tourists visit at the city attraction - it was made to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the venue.
It's the top 50p in Change Checker's, latest scarcity index and it's also one of the top ten rarest coins overall in circulation according to the Royal Mint too.
Bidders know it's in high demand and low quantity globally, so they're more likely to want a version of their own and pay more while they're at it.
Seven different bidders were after this one, but it only took five days to reach the triple figure value that it eventually settled on.
The seller explained that this copy was "a very nice, great condition, circulated example of the rare 50 pence coin".
"With only 210,000 of these coins issued by the Royal Mint in 2009," they said, "the value of the Kew Gardens 50p is rising by the week."
How to make a mint from your spare change
If you find a rare coin in your change you could make a lot of money from it.
The Kew Gardens coin was designed especially to commemorate an occasion and period in history, but it's not the only one.
There's a whole collection of rare Olympic 50p coins that were made to celebrate the games in London 2012 too.
But to keep them special, The Royal Mint won't issue many, so avid coin collectors are constantly on the hunt for the newest and rarest.
Rare error coins often sell for a lot of money on eBay too - these will have some noticeable fault that happened in the minting process, but their flaws often mean they rocket in value.
Always be cautious of fakes though, as they'll often show up online.
But the recent 50p's seller assured buyers that this one was "100% genuine".
They said: "Don't be fooled by the copies that are flooding the marketplace."
You can check it's real by looking at how many people have been willing to bid for it in the past - and how much they've driven the price up by too.
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Experts like or will check if your change is legitimate and worth what others are saying too.
Always keep in mind though, that on eBay a buyer could pull out, which means the coin won't have sold for the price it says it has.
Rare coins and valuable notes - is yours worth a mint?
- Five rarest coins - do you have one?
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- Most rare and valuable 50p coins in circulation
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- How to check if you have a rare and valuable banknote
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