IT'S worth digging around your spare change as you could fetch up to £60 for a rare Olympic coin.
The Royal Mint, the official maker of British coins, unveiled 29 new pieces in 2011 to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics.
More than a decade later there's still some in circulation, and some have been known to fetch for up to £64.
Coins that are in general circulation can be found in your spare change – so it's worth digging around in your wallet or purse for any.
Here's some of the rarest and most valuable Olympic 50p coins you can get your hands on.
What is the rarest Olympic 50p coin?
The rarest coin out of all the Olympic coins, according to changechecker.org, is the football 50p coin.
read more in rare coins
Five rare coins and notes worth up to £3,600 – do you have one in your purse?
I’m a coin collector – rare euros are being listed for sale for hundreds online
The coin features the hotly debated offside rule in the form of a simple diagram and just 1,125,000 were put into circulation.
That's still more than the rarer Kew Gardens 50p, of which there are just over 200,000 in circulation.
The Kew Gardens piece wasminted a few years earlier than the Olympic collection and has been known to sell for up to a whopping £895 on eBay.
In the Olympic range, the coin to fetch the most in recent months is the aquatics coin – this sold for £64 on eBay.
Most read in Money
Thousands have just hours left to renew benefits or risk losing £1,000s
Huge £35m estate on sale for first time in 700 years & rock star is interested
BoE expected to raise interest rates AGAIN next week – what it means for you
We won £115MILLION in EuroMillions jackpot – here's first thing we did
Further into the past, the piece has sold for more than £1,000.
The error in the design makes it more valuable to collectors, just like a number of other rare errors out there too.
Otherwise, the 2012 aquatics coin with the updated design is one of the more highly circulated coins with 2,197,000 released.
The most widely circulated of the set is the archer coin with well over 3.3million released to the general public.
How much are the Olympic 50p coins worth?
Remember, the value of these coins can change so it's always worth taking each listing with a pinch of salt.
A rare piece is only worth what the bidder is willing to pay for it at that time.
Be wary of fakes that can crop up online too.
Here's the top ten rarest coins of the Olympic collection, and how much they've sold for recently on eBay.
1. Aquatics
Sold for £64 on eBay
If you find an aquatic 50p error coin with lines over the face, it could be worth a small fortune.
A small handful of this original design was put into circulation but it was then adapted very quickly to show the face above the water.
With so few of the original design out there, it's meant the coin's value has been pushed up significantly.
2. Football
Sold for £18 on eBay
The football coins are the rarest of all the Olympics 2012 coins, with just 1,125,500 in circulation.
The coin's design shows a football pitch with a diagram explaining the "offside" rule.
We saw one on eBay that had recently sold for £18.
3. Wrestling
Sold for £10 on eBay
You can still get a decent price for the Wrestling coin despite it being the third rarest coin.
We found one that had recently sold on eBay for £10.
4. Judo
Sold for £17 on eBay
If you find a Judo Olympics 50p coin down the back of the sofa, you could sell it for a decent price.
The coin, which depict one barefoot fighter throwing another to the floor, had recently sold for on eBay was £17.
5. Triathlon
Sold for £17 on eBay
The Triathlon coin recently fetched £17 on eBay, according to our research.
Keep an eye out for the design which shows three outlined figures – one swimming one cycling and one running.
6. Tennis
Sold for £5.50 on eBay
The Olympics 2012 tennis coin depicts a ball soaring over a net.
We found that it had sold for £5.50 on eBay.
7. Goalball
Sold for £3.88 on eBay
You could sell a goalball Olympics 2012 50p for £3.88 if you find it buried in an old coat pocket.
The design shows a goalball player throwing the ball in a sport that is designed specifically for athletes with visual impairment.
8. Shooting
Sold for £3.23 on eBay
The shooting coin for the 2012 Olympics showed a figure firing their rifle into the sky.
Our research showed that one of the coins recently sold for £3.23 on eBay, despite it being lower down the pecking order than some other examples.
9. Taekwondo
Sold for £4.20 on eBay
If you find the Taekwondo coin, you could flog it for £4.20 on eBay.
The coin's design shows two fighters with the one in the foreground doing a very high kick.
10. Handball
Sold for £5.50 on eBay
The handball coin still recently sold for £5.50 on eBay even though it makes the bottom of our list.
The design shows a male athlete preparing to throw a ball with the blueprint of a handball pitch in the background.
Read More on The Sun
My Ryanair booking hack will save you loads on cabin bags… never pay full price
11 freebies & discounts worth £6,788 you can get on Universal Credit
In other news, a coin expert has revealed the exact date to spot on a rare £2 piece worth more than £1,000.
Plus, the exact detail to spot on another rare £2 piece worth up to £125.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
You can also join our new Sun Money Facebook group to share stories and tips and engage with the consumer team and other group members.
Source: Read Full Article