Found a new £1 with an error? It could be worth a mint as flawed coins sell for up to £300 on eBay
HUNDREDS of new £1 error coins are being flogged on eBay for up to £300.
Major production flaws mean that thousands of the 12-sided pound coin - dubbed the “most secure in the world” - appear cracked, warped or have the middle missing.
Now opportunistic sellers on eBay are making a mint by selling off their error coins.
Officials admitted to The Sun that faults had crept into the minting process of the new pound coin, resulting in thousands being either misshapen, issued with their centres missing, having sections bleeding into one another, or not containing key design details.
The coins are legal tender, so if you don't want to sell them you can spend them as normal in shops and supermarkets.
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The quirky quids have been slowly cropping up on eBay, with most coins listed having a blank space where the Queen's head should be, or with the Queen's head upside down.
One error coin, which sold for just shy of £300, appears to show a gap between the centre and outer ring.
But similar coins with missing pieces have failed to fetch anything at all on eBay, with the error pound coin below receiving absolutely no bids.
This is most likely because the coin above was sold a few weeks ago, when there were fewer error coins being sold online and were therefore more sought-after.
Another error coin, which has a completely blank face where the Queen's head should be, has sold for £155 - after attracting more than 30 bids.
The coin looks to be in perfect condition, and is dated 2016.
Another listing of the pound coin with the blank space sold for £250, but only received one bid.
The seller confirmed that the reverse side was normal and contained the hologram.
If you think you have an error coin, check eBay to see how much the coin is going for.
It’s easy for someone to list a coin for thousands of pounds but the “ended” listings will give you a more realistic idea of the selling price.
This coin was minted with the Queen's head upside down, and sold for the tidy sum of £85.
The reverse side of the coin is as it should be.
The Royal Mint, which is responsible for striking the nation’s coins, played down the furore.
A spokesman said: “We have tight quality controls in place. However, variances will always occur in a small number of coins, particularly in the striking process, due to the high volumes and speed of production.”
The 12-sided coin launched late March and there will be 1.5billion of them in circulation within months.
It's not just the new £1 coins that could be worth a mint if they're faulty.
Earlier this year, we lifted the lid on the rarest and most valuable coins that contain hard-to-spot errors, and that are still in circulation - so could be in your spare change right now.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU'VE GOT A RARE COIN
FIRSTLY, you need to make sure the coin is legit and not counterfeit. The Royal Mint is unable to value a coin but it can confirm whether it is real or not.
They will usually supply you with a letter to confirm this. Once you’ve found out whether the coin is real or not, you have a number of options – either selling it through a coin dealer, at auction or on eBay.
If you want to sell the coin you’ve found in your spare change on eBay then you need to know the risks.
Remember to set a minimum price that is higher or at the very least equal to the face value of the coin.
Even if your coin “sells” on eBay for a high price there’s no guarantee that the buyer will cough out.
It its terms and conditions, the auction website states that bidders enter a “legally binding contract to purchase an item”, but there’s no way to enforce this rule in reality.
For more information about what to do if you’ve found a rare coin, read our guide.
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