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Rare Olympic error 50p coin sells for £245 on eBay - is there one in your purse?

8 September 2021, 09:58 | Updated: 8 September 2021, 14:40

A rare coin made to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics has sold for a huge amount online.

You might want to check down the back of the sofa, because a rare 50p coin has just sold for a whopping £245 on eBay.

The Olympic coin, which was created in 2011 to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics, features a minting error.

It was an earlier version of the coin that was released, and features more lines on the swimmer's face.

As reported by The Sun, it sold for £245.51 on eBay when bids ended on August 20.

The coin on the left is a stock image of the rare coin, while the one on the right is what it's supposed to look like. Picture: Royal Mint

The listing kicked off with a starter price of £50, and 29 bids were placed on the coin.

The seller wrote in the description: "I believe this to be one of the Rare GENUINE Swimming with Lines Through Swimmer London Olympics 2011 50p Error Coin."

They added: "Do not buy it unless you believe it’s genuine too."

There thought to be around 600 error Olympic Aquatics coins in circulation, compared to 2,000,000 official ones.

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Error coins are generally worth considerably more than their face value, and another similar coin sold for £420 back in July.

In March of this year, a coin with the same error sold for a whopping £1,000.

Coin fans should be aware that there are fakes in circulation. If you aren't sure whether a coin is genuine, you can get it checked by the Royal Mint. Find out more here.