Rare Paddington Bear 50p coin sold on eBay for £1,500 – how much is it worth?

A RARE Paddington Bear 50p coin has been spotted on eBay and sold for £1,500.

The coin was released by Royal Mint in 2018 and features the famous bear standing outside the Tower of London.

A Paddington Bear coin was sold for £1,500 on eBay, February 13, by a Glasgow seller.

It is the 14th rarest 50p coin, with a mintage of 5,001,000.

However, only one bid was made on the eBay listing and the seller has no history or reviews, so the purchase may not be what it seems.

You should always check reviews and seller history because there may be fakes hovering about.

The amount of people bidding for a coin will often tell you whether or not it’s legit or even of interest, but do note some of the rarest will have low bids so it’s not always a definite way to tell.

But if in doubt, just ask the seller if they have sent the coin off to be examined.

Never buy anything you’re unsure about either way – it’s better to be safe than sorry.

However, real versions of this coin have sold for far more than its face value, so its worth looking out for one in your change.

For example, this Buckingham Palace Paddington Bear coin sold for £266 due to a surprise error.

It was struck twice on both sides – which means both designs had “fallen off” the side of each face.

And another sold for £300 in 2020 – 600 times its face value.

The most valuable coins are usually those with a low mintage or an error. These are often deemed the most valuable by collectors.

Why is the Paddington Bear coin rare?

There are four designs of the Paddington 50p coin – they may even be amongst your spare change.

Two designs were released in 2018, with one displaying Paddington standing outside Buckingham Palace and waving a Union Jack flag.

The other pictures him sat on his suitcase at Paddington station as a train rolls in behind him.

The following year, a further two designs were released.

One design features Paddington Bear standing outside the Tower of London, while the other sees him tipping his hat as he stands outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Royal Mint said it anticipated the coins would be “highly collectible” when it released them.

How do I spot a rare coin?

Rare coins could fetch a pretty penny if you know what to look for in your purse.

Coins with mistakes on them tend to be high in demand among collectors because minting errors are extremely rare.

You can check how much the coin is selling for on eBay, by searching the full name of the coin, select the “sold” listing and then toggle the search to “highest value”.

It will give you an idea of the amount of money that the coin is going for. But it’s not always the case that a coin has sold for the amount is was listed for.

Coins are really only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

You can also check the ChangeChecker website for the list of rarest coins – it updates pretty regularly and tells you how many are in circulation too.

And the slightly longer way to check whether your coins have genuine minting errors would be to send them to The Royal Mint Museum, which will analyse it for you and leave you without a doubt if you decide to list it.

How do I sell rare coins?

You can either choose to sell the coin on eBay or through a specialist like ChangeChecker.org.

If you choose the auction website then remember to set a minimum price that is higher or at the very least equal to the face value of the coin.

Even if your coin “sells” on eBay for a high price there’s no guarantee that the buyer will cough up.

In its terms and conditions, eBay states that bidders enter a “legally binding contract to purchase an item”, but there’s no way to enforce this rule in reality.

The most eBay can do is add a note to their account for the unpaid item or remove their ability to bid and buy.

And remember it’s not just coins that can cough up the dosh – notes can be pretty lucrative too.

We’ve done a round up of the rarest coins and notes in circulation right now – always check your change in case there’s a gem in there that could fetch an impressive reward.