50p coin listed for 1p on eBay sells for £155 after bidding war

A rare 50p coin has sold for £155 on eBay, after initially being listed for a penny. The coin, minted in 2009 and one of the UK’s rarest, is highly sought after by collectors.

It was launched over 15 years ago to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens’ opening and features the gardens’ iconic Chinese Pagoda on one side and the late Queen’s portrait on the other. The Royal Mint is believed to have produced around 210,000 of these coins, which experts value at approximately £145 – meaning one fortunate eBay seller sold theirs for more than its current estimated worth.

The coin was listed as “2009 Genuine Kew Gardens 50p Coin In Very Good Circulated Condition *Rare Find*” on the site, with an initial starting price of just a penny. However, after a 34-way bidding war, the price soared, finally settling at £155.

The buyer also had to pay £2.70 for Royal Mail tracked 48-hour delivery after making the winning bid on Sunday, January 5. Experts believe there are still hundreds of thousands of Kew Gardens 50p coins in circulation, so it might be worth checking your change.

If you find one, the first thing you should do is check the date, reports Devon Live. This is because the Royal Mint reissued a batch of these coins in 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 50p, and these versions typically don’t fetch as high a price.

However, they have been known to sell for around £70 or £80 on eBay, so it could still be worth putting them up for auction.