It’s always worth checking your loose change carefully—you might stumble upon a coin worth far more than its face value, sometimes even thousands of pounds. While certain 50p coins have sold for over £1,000 in the past, a recent listing online has caught the eye: a Queen Elizabeth 50p coin claimed to be worth an astonishing £300,000.
However, a seasoned coin expert known as @CoinCollectingWizard, with 36,000 followers on Instagram, has stepped forward with a crucial warning. In a recent video, he addressed the hype around this so-called rare coin featuring a necklace design, clarifying that it’s not as valuable as many believe.
He explained, “£300,000 for a Queen Elizabeth 50p coin with a necklace—is this real? People are going crazy thinking it’s rare and worth a fortune, but that’s simply not true.”
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The expert revealed the truth: this 50p coin is one of the most common you’ll find in everyday change, with a massive mintage of 456 million. The “necklace” is actually part of the standard portrait design of the Queen. Despite being widely advertised at inflated prices online, the coin is only worth its face value of 50p.
He advises collectors to focus on truly rare 50p coins instead, such as the Kew Gardens error 50p or the Atlantic Salmon 50p, which the Royal Mint recognizes as one of the rarest, with only about 200,000 minted. The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p is also rare, with just 210,000 coins produced. Other valuable coins include special edition Olympics 50p pieces and coins with known errors.
In summary, the famous “Queen’s necklace” 50p is not a collector’s goldmine, but a common coin circulating in millions. If you want to find valuable 50p coins, keep an eye out for those with limited mintages and unique features rather than falling for misleading listings that promise unrealistic prices.