‘Super rare error’ 50p sells for over £4,000 in Wiltshire

A ‘super rare’ 50p coin has sold for £4,500 in Wiltshire due to an unusual error.

Britannia Coin Company, based in Royal Wootton Bassett, sold the coin to a private collector after it was authenticated by The Numismatic Guarantee Company.

The valuable coin is a rare Gibraltar 50p mint error which features a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse, along with the date 1990.

On the other side of the coin is a Christmas themed design showing a choirboy and a puppy.

This chorister design is usually seen on coins dated 1989, meaning the sides of the heads and tails are mismatched.

Coins with such mistakes are known as ‘mules’ and this one was discovered by a private seller who asked the Wiltshire firm to sell it on their behalf.

The £4,500 fee collected for the 50p makes it far more valuable than the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p, a well-known rare coin that often sells for around £250 online today.

Experts at The Britannia Coin Company have urged people to check their spare change as there is likely to be more of this ‘error’ coin in circulation.

READ MORE: Royal Mint 2012 Olympics 50p sells for £1,500 in Wiltshire

Christopher Collect with rare coin (Image: The Britannia Coin Company)

“These non-UK 50ps are already rarer than what we’re used to seeing in our change,” said Christopher Collects, coin expert and YouTuber who works for The Britannia Coin Company.

“As this is the only example of this manufacturing error that has ever been found, this coin is one of the rarest modern coins out there.

“Because the bug was just discovered, no one looked for it, so there could definitely be more.”

The coin was so rare that Christopher was concerned it might have been a fake.

But it has now been authenticated and can be found in the Numismatic Guarantee Company’s online authenticated coin registry.

Christopher added: “I was concerned that this coin was a fake so I got a second opinion from the experts at the Numismatic Guarantee Company.

“They are rare coin specialists and have authenticated the Gibraltar 50p as a genuine error.

“That’s why it’s in a protective case with a unique reference number, because it’s been added to their database.”

Other examples of mint error coins where a problem occurred in the manufacturing process are the undated 20ps.

In 2008, the Royal Mint issued approximately 250,000 undated 20ps.

Today these error coins can sell for more than £100.