Rare 50p sells for £122 and there are thousands more out there

A 50p coin has fetched some £122 after being listed on eBay. Certain coins can go for significantly more than their face value, and this one has an estimated worth of approximately £145 - meaning the seller may have actually slightly lost out if experts' predictions are accurate.

Many coins are sought after by collectors, and this particular piece is one of the UK's rarest. The Royal Mint minted roughly 210,000 of these coins, which debuted in 2009 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens.

The coin displays the distinctive Chinese Pagoda from the botanical gardens on one face and the late Queen's portrait on the reverse. This coin was listed on eBay as "2009 KEW GARDENS 50p BRITISH CIRCULATED COIN RARE".

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It had an opening bid of 99p, but this jumped up and up as some 29 bids came in. The coin finally sold for £122, with a £3.75 charge for 48 hour tracked delivery.

Experts believe there are still hundreds of thousands of Kew Gardens 50p coins circulating, so one might well be lurking in your change. If you do find one, you should first check the date on it.

This is because the Royal Mint released another batch of the coins in 2019 to mark 50 years of the 50p, and this edition typically doesn't command as high a price. However these pieces have been known to secure around £70 or £80 on eBay, so it could still prove worthwhile putting it up for sale.

According to the Royal Mint, these are the rarest 50p coins in circulation:

• Atlantic Salmon (2023), 200,000
• Kew Gardens (2009), 210,000
• Olympic Football (2011), 1,125,500
• Olympic Wrestling (2011), 1,129,500
• Olympic Judo (2011), 1,161,500
• Olympic Triathlon (2011), 1,163,500
• Peter Rabbit (2018), 1,400,000
• Flopsy Bunny (2018), 1,400,000
• Olympic Tennis (2011), 1,454,000
• Olympic Goalball (2011), 1,615,500