A Beatrix Potter 50p coin is being sold for 50,000 times its worth due to a tiny error noticed by the object’s eagle-eyed owner.
The commemorative coin was listed online for £25,000 after the owner from Dereham, Norfolk, noticed a lump of metal sticking out of Peter Rabbit’s foot.
The Royal Mint produced almost 20,000,000 Peter Rabbit 50ps in 2017 as part of a series celebrating the famous children's author Beatrix Potter.
They are not generally considered rare and are worth a few pounds at most due to so many of them being in circulation.
It was listed for £25,086.72, with any buyer expected to pay £8.95 for postage while agreeing to a no returns or refunds policy.
In January, a Peter Rabbit coin was listed online for £4,000. The seller, based in County Durham, described the coin as “in excellent condition, with a fineness of 0.925.”
The listing read: “This rare coin belongs to the Decimal Coinage category and is part of the British Coins and UK Coins collection."
The 50 pence piece has become the most valued and collected coin in the UK, with many collectable designs appearing on its heptagonal canvas.
Its 27.5mm diameter makes it the largest of any British coin, and allows space for decorative pictures. It has often been used to celebrate big events over the past 50 years of British history.
The rarest coins tend to be of the greatest value, with the mintage (number of coins with each design made) being the fundamental attraction for collectors.
Along with the design, other aspects of the coin which increase value are the condition of the coin and whether it has an error in its design.
The way in which it is sold can also determine the coin’s value - while some coin collectors will bid vast amounts of money on ebay or at auction, others opt for more robust valuations by selling via a coin dealer.
