Specific plant to look out for as rare coin sells for 1,000 times its value after sparking intense bidding war

BRITS have been urged to keep their eyes peeled for a specific plant after a rare coin sold for more than 1,000 times its face value following a fierce eBay bidding war.

The uncommon piece was targeted by a handful of buyers who put in a total of 21 bids during the auction.

Ultimately, it was sold for a hefty £530.01.

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, 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.

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.

This will give you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some notes.

But 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 checking “sold listings” to ensure the coin sold for the specified amount, rather than just being listed.