Girl Guide 50p error coin sells for £400 on eBay

27 August 2020, 16:52

By Mared Parry

@maredparry

If you've got one of these you could be in luck!

An unique 50p coin has been flogged for a whopping £400 on eBay after the owner listed it with a 'printing error'.

The Girl Guide fifty pence piece came out in 2010 with a whopping 7.4million going into circulation, so the standard coin isn't really considered especially rare.

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However, in this case eBay user Levmineu0, based in Cwmbran, South Wales, spotted something that made this one potentially valuable, an error in the printing, which meant he was able to attract bids that went up to £400.

The coin's description reads: "Rare 50 Pence Coin - Girls Guidance 2010 - Royal Mint Error Coin."

This particular Girl Guiding fifty pence was made in 2010 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the movement being founded.

It was designed by Royal Mint architects Jonathan Evans and Donna Hainan.

The reverse of the coin features the famous three leaf 'trefoil' logo, which is the global symbol of Guiding and represents the three-fold promise.

These 2p error coins circulating could be worth a lot of money

The normal 50p can usually fetch about £4 on auction sites, as 7,410,090 of them were struck in 2010.

For context, the rarest 50p in circulation is the 2009 Kew Gardens one, with just 210,000 minted.

According to coin experts at Change Checker, this specific style of 50p ranks 57th in a list of rarest 50p pieces.

However, this specific edition has traded hands for £400 due to a so-called error - although the seller has given no indication as to what it could be.