The rare Kew Gardens 50p is selling on eBay for £215 after receiving a flood of bids

The Kew Gardens coin regularly tops lists of the rarest 50p pieces. This particular coin sold for £215 on eBay after receiving 31 bids after a seven day auction

A rare Kew Gardens 50p has sold on eBay for £215 after receiving dozens of bids from coin collectors.

The prized piece depicts the famous Chinese pagoda from the gardens, intertwined by a leafy vine.

It was released in 2009 to mark the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens opening in 1759 and there are only 210,000 in circulation – far fewer than other coins that can mint millions.

It is this low mintage that makes the Kew Gardens coin valuable to collectors and often sees it on top lists of rarest 50p pieces.

This particular Kew Gardens 50p was sold on 29th April for £215 on eBay with free delivery after receiving 31 bids after a seven day auction.

Coin Hunter, the change review site, says the median price for a Kew Gardens 50p is £156.25.

The average price range for an item sold is between £150.89 and £161.50.

However, we’ve seen examples where they’ve fetched as much as £200 before – about 400 times their face value – so it’s not impossible for them to sell at that price.

Do you have a rare coin in your collection? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

If you find a Kew Gardens 50p in your change, the first thing you should do is check the date on it.

The Royal Mint reissued a batch of the coins as part of a collection in 2019 to celebrate 50 years of 50p – and these don’t tend to fetch that much on eBay.

The 2019 version typically sells for between £70 and £80 on the auction site.

If you’re thinking of buying a rare coin on eBay, you should always be wary of fakes making the rounds – Kew Gardens being one of them.

According to Change Checker, there are some warning signs to look out for. The first is a very frosted design or high relief sometimes found on counterfeit coins.

With the Kew Gardens 50p, you’ll also want to look for a sharp “pointy” roof on the top of the pagoda.

There should also be no lines either side of the word “Kew” at the bottom of the coin. These lines may indicate a counterfeit coin, but they are also visible on the Proof and Brilliant Uncirculated versions.

On the reverse of the coin, the queen’s neck should point to the “P” in the word “pence”.

Modification expert websites and Facebook groups like Coin Hunter can help you figure out if a coin is real or not, and The Fake Pound Coin Database has listed several examples to show you what to look out for.

You can also have coins verified by the Royal Mint.

We have a guide to the rarest bug coins that could be worth up to £3,100.

Another coin to watch out for is this bizarre undated 20p coin – it can fetch up to £60 on eBay.