Rare 20p coin sells for £232 on eBay after sparking online bidding war

11 September 2023 , 13:54

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The rare 20p coin was sold for £232 on eBay (Image: Ebay)

A rare 20p coin has recently sold on eBay for over £230 with the bidding war on the coin lasting seven days.

The coin in question was dubbed "A Bronze Blank" and was described as being a "very rare Royal Mint error" 20p coin from 1983. If you are not a coin collector, a Royal Mint error is when a coin encounters a flaw during production. In this case, the 20p coin was minted back in 1983 onto a copper-coloured blank rather than the usual cupro-nickel.

According to the listing, this eBay seller came across the coin a few years ago and sent it off to the Royal Mint to have it authenticated in 2016. The Royal Mint concluded that the coin was in fact genuine after carrying out a "thorough visual analysis" on it. They then said that the coin had come about as a bronze blank, which would've usually been used to create 1p coins, was struck as a 20p instead. The seller included the letter from the Royal Mint in their listing to prove the coin's authenticity.

The coin was first listed on July 29, and over the course of seven days, it received a total of 28 bids from five different buyers. It was first listed for 99p and the first bid was for £4. After this, each day the bids went up until on August 5 it sold for £232. The buyer also paid £6.85 for express delivery. So overall, they paid out a whopping £238.85. The seller appears to be a coin collector as they have sold coins on eBay in the past.

Coins with a minting error like this could be worth a small fortune because very few actually make it into circulation. You can make money from these rare coins by selling them at auction, either online or in person, or through a dealer - but a coin is only ever worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

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If you’re thinking about buying a rare coin on eBay, you should always be wary of fakes doing the rounds. Websites and Facebook groups from change experts like Coin Hunter can help you work out if a coin is the real deal or not.

Ruby Flanagan