Rare 50p coin in circulation could be worth 120 times its original value

11 March 2024 , 14:13

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In 1992-93, 50p coins celebrating the British presidency of the European Council were released

A rare 50p coin could be worth up to 120 times its original value and here's how you can spot it.

A collector has said that a special 50p coin, made to celebrate the EU presidency, could be worth as much as £60. This coin is one of the rarest 50p coins around because there are only 109,000 of them. Crawley Coins, a collector, believes this coin could sell for up to £60 - that's 120 times what it was originally worth.

However, a TikTok account called CoinCollectorUk thinks it might be worth a bit less, maybe between £40 to £45. The coin has two dates on it - 1992 and 1993 - which show when the UK was in charge of the European Council of Ministers and when the Single Market was finished.

Mary Milner Dickens designed the coin, and it shows a table with 12 chairs on it. These chairs stand for the EU's Council of Ministers. The design also puts the UK at the top, showing how it was the leader at the time, and it has 12 stars for each member of the EEC.

CoinCollectorUK also said that a certain 20p coin could be worth up to 300 times what it was originally worth, according to Birmingham Live. The Royal Mint made these 20p coins in 2008 and because they made a mistake when they were making them, they could be worth up to £50. To find one of these 20p coins, you need to look for one that doesn't have a date on it.

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This happened after they changed the design in 2008 and moved the date to the heads side instead of the tails side. The coins were made incorrectly, using the old version of the heads side, which doesn't have a year date and the new version of the tails side which also doesn't have a year date. These coins are called 'mules' because of their mismatched sides and there could be around 250,000 in circulation.

This was the first coin without a date in the UK since 1672 and so it's very rare and valuable. A 'mule' coin was also released in 1983 when the Royal Mint mistakenly struck the 2p piece with the text 'new pence' instead of 'two pence'. This 1983 2p mule is worth a lot because hardly any of these specific coins ever reached the public.

Isabelle Bates