Rare Olympic swimmer 50p coin sells for £410 on eBay

7 August 2020, 12:06

By Mared Parry

@maredparry

The coins are actually rare for an unique reason... you'd never guess it!

A 50p coin created to mark the Olympics has sold on eBay for a hefty amount - £410 - and who knows? You might have one at home too.

The rare swimming coin is one of the many themed 50ps which were launched for the London 2012 games and there were a fair few about.

In total, there were a whopping 29 designs all with a different sport on each one.

READ MORE: Is your 50p worth hundreds? Here are how much the rare ones are all worth

This particular design that's fetched £410 is the swimming design, and the reason behind it being so valuable is because it's actually an error coin.

Ahead of the coin's release in 2011, the Royal Mint redesigned the aquatics 50p to show less water crossing the swimmer making their face more visible.

However, a small number of coins were accidentally struck with the original design and entered into circulation, which is what makes them rare.

The coin sold on eBay wasn't even in brand new condition, as it shows in pictures that it's covered in scratches.

This particular coin attracted 40 bids over seven days on eBay.

It had a starting price of 99p and the winning bidder also had to pay 76p for delivery.

The Sun Online spoke to Colin Bellamy, a coin expert who runs Coin Hunter, who warned people away from buying these kinds of items on sites like eBay.

He said: "There are large numbers of copies of this coin, some sellers list items to deceive people into thinking they are buying a real Royal Mint produced coin.

"Stay away from eBay listings.

"Your best bet may be a car boot sale.

"If you've got one at home, check to see if the water lines cross over the swimmer's face - if they do then you could be on to a winner."