Next time you come across a long-forgotten pocket of old change, make sure you take a moment to examine any 50ps you find - if you’re holding on to one with a certain design, it could earn you hundreds of times its original value.
Issued in 1992 and 1993, just 109,000 special 50p coins were minted to celebrate the UK’s presidency of the European Council of Ministers and the completion of the Single Market. This is almost half the number of the renowned Kew Gardens 50p , of which 210,000 were made - making this one nearly twice as rare.
The design by Mary Milner Dickens features a conference table surrounded by 12 chairs for each member of the Council, as well as the years 1992 and 1993. The UK is represented at the head of the table, which has twelve stars placed in the geographic positions of each member’s capital city, The Mirror reports .
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This design, which features Queen Elizabeth II on its reverse side, was stamped on a larger and heavier 50p which was removed from circulation in 1997 and replaced by the smaller version that we know today. While this coin is no longer in circulation and is tricky to find with so few having been made, people have been urged to check their old wallets or pockets to see if they could be holding on to one of these special 50ps.
While the amount that the coin sells for can vary depending on how much collectors are willing to pay on sites such as eBay, this 50p is highly sought after with Change Checker describing it as “the UK’s rarest 50p coin”. Copes Coins adds: "The 1992 / 1993 dual date 50p coin is by far the rarest of any fifty pence coin to have been released.”
Copes Coins estimates that one of these 50ps is worth between £65-£125 depending on its condition, while All About Coins says that they have previously sold on eBay for between £45 and £55. If you discover that you have one of these coins lying around at home, it seems it will definitely catch the attention of avid coin collectors.
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