Exact animal to spot on new 50p coin needed to complete rare collection worth up to £160

SPOTTING a specific animal on a 50p could help you complete a rare collection that could be worth up to £160.

The Royal Mint has launched a new steppe mammoth coin as part of its latest Tale of the Earth Collection, which features rare and extinct animals.

In the past, the designs have included dinosaurs but the latest range is centred around the Ice Age, which took place over 11,000 years ago.

Experts at Change Checker said: "The Tales of the Earth series as a whole is dedicated to celebrating ancient life on our planet, offering collectors a glimpse into a world that existed thousands of years ago, and the Ice Age Giants 50ps take us all the way back to the Ice Age."

The 50p coin was designed by paleo-artist Robert Nicholls in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.

The reverse of the coin features a design of the famous animal, which was wiped out centuries ago due to hunting and rising temperatures.

It is currently available to buy from the Royal Mint website, with prices starting at £12.

These coins are uncirculated, meaning they are for collectors and you would not receive one as change in a shop.

The UK manufacturer has plans to release two more coins for the collection, which feature a 50p woolly rhino and also a giant dear.

These are not available to buy yet but you can pre-order them on the Change Checker website.

In the past, similar collections like this have been highly sought after by collectors.

The Royal Mint 2021 dinosaur collection, featuring all three coins, was sold for £160 on eBay earlier this month.

But it is worth remembering that coins are only worth what buyers are willing to pay for them.

For example, an identical set was sold for £25 on October 21.

The single steppe mammoth coin sold for £9.99 on eBay this week.

As the new Ice Age collection has not yet been fully launched, so it's not quite clear just how much it will be worth.

But it's not just animal collections that spark interest from collectors.

Coins featuring characters from children's books or television can also be a hit.

For example, the Royal Mint's 2018 edition of The Snowman coin, which features the iconic image of him flying in the sky, sold for £10.50 this Ocotber.

The 2019 edition, depicting the lovable cartoon as he comes to life, sold for £10.99 this month also.

You may have seen recently The Royal Mint released a 50p coin featuring the Gruffalo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its books.

The Sun recently rounded up a full list of quirky rare coins that could be worth £356, which you can check out here.

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.