Rare Olympics 50p coin sells for £600 on eBay - do you have one at home?

By Helen Johnson
Published 6th Aug 2019, 13:37 BST
Updated 6th Aug 2019, 15:43 BST
Rare and limited edition coins can sell for hundreds of pounds - even if they have minting errors or flaws (Photo: eBay)Rare and limited edition coins can sell for hundreds of pounds - even if they have minting errors or flaws (Photo: eBay)
Rare and limited edition coins can sell for hundreds of pounds - even if they have minting errors or flaws (Photo: eBay)

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Rare and limited edition coins can sell for hundreds of pounds - even if they have minting errors or flaws.

A rare Olympic 50p coin reportedly recently sold on eBay for £590 - more than 1,180 times its face value.

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Minted by mistake

The Royal Mint released 29 new 50p designs in order to mark the London 2012 Olympic Games, with each of these depicting a different competitive sport.

However, one particular 50p coin was an error coin, accidentally released ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. The coin had an aquatic design, featuring a swimmer, and was minted by mistake.

The Royal Mint redesigned the aquatics 50p to show less water crossing the swimmer, in order to make their face more visible, but a small number of coins was accidentally released with the original design.