A coin expert has urged Britons to check their change for a rare 50p piece that could be worth more than 100 times its face value. The coin, minted in 2017 to commemorate Sir Isaac Newton, features a minting error that has made it highly sought after by collectors.
The error, known as a die clash, appears as several extra lines across Queen Elizabeth II's portrait on the obverse side of the coin. According to the Coin Collecting Wizard on TikTok, these lines are not scratches but raised whiskers on the surface, believed to have occurred during the minting process.
Only 1.8 million Sir Isaac Newton 50p coins were originally minted, making them relatively scarce even without the error. The Royal Mint later offered a 'strike your own' experience, adding to the coin's popularity. Change Checker experts confirmed that several collectors have reported finding the error coin in circulation.
On eBay, examples of the error coin have been listed for prices ranging from £100 to over £1,000. The expert advised that if you find a coin with the extra lines, you have stumbled upon a valuable piece. The exact number of error coins in circulation remains unknown, but they are considered extremely rare.
