A RARE coin is worth £100s for containing a tiny detail that you might have missed – is there one in your pocket?
The commemorative 50p coin, minted in 2003, recently sold on eBay for a whopping £227.22.
Minted on the Isle of Man, the 2003 Christmas 50p Coin commemorates the beloved book and TV film, The Snowman.
One of a series of coins traditionally minted on the island during Christmas, the coin is incredibly rare and has been attracting sale prices over 400 times its face value.
The reverse of the coin features The Snowman and James holding hands, with trees lining the background.
The word ‘Christmas’ features overhead as does the number 50 on the bottom of the coin.
Crucially, on the head side, the words Isle of Man feature alongside Elizabeth II, the year of mintage (2003), and miniature triskelions that represent the island.
Over the years, The Snowman has featured on a number of different other 50ps from The Isle of Man.
Isle of Man coinage is particularly sought-after by collectors as mintages are significantly lower than in the UK, due to a population of around 85,000.
As these coins are very similar in appearance and specification to UK coins, they can sometimes find their way over here when people return from holidaying on the island, according to Change Checker.
This coin isn’t alone in being worth many times more than its face value.
An ultra-rare 50p coin, worth thousands of times its face value due to an unusual marking, was sold for £1500 at auction earlier this year.
The coin had been released to mark the 2012 London Olympics – with 29 designs representing different sports.
The standard piece features a swimmer’s face fully visible, but the error version sees lines appear across the swimmer’s face instead.
The 2011 Aquatics 50p originally depicted the swimmer’s face submerged underwater.
Due to a quick design modification, only a handful of these coins made it into circulation before the design was changed to show the swimmer’s face above water.
The error coin is so rare, it can sell for giant sums like in RWB’s recent auction – and it’s been known to sell for £1,600 in the past too.
Another rare coin, the 2017 Benjamin Button 50p can sell for anywhere between £30 and £60.
Some of these coins were minted with the Elizabeth II’s head facing the wrong direction.
