Two extremely rare 50p coins were listed on eBay and sold for £2,500 after a bidding war.
Britons are urged to check their wallets and down their couches for any spare change as it could be worth a fortune.
The two coins listed were both made to commemorate the 2012 Olympic Games in London and were both marked with images of swimmers.
The coins have been verified as genuine by the Royal Mint, and graded by the NGC.
Both coins showed a swimmer with their face down in the water with their goggles on pushing through to the finish line.
One coin had wavy lines covering the swimmer’s face whilst the other didn’t. This design was what caused coin collectors into a frenzy as only 600 coins were ever produced with lines across the athlete’s face.
The design was later amended to show the face in full.
The seller said: ”The 2012 Olympic Games AQUATICS 50p coin is a genuine NGC MS66 graded ultra-rare piece. Selling a pair of these coins, one with the lines over the face, and the other is the replacement design with the lines removed.
“Both are in NGC capsules, and both are MS66 graded. Both are in mint, uncirculated condition.
“99 percent of all ‘lines over the face’ Aquatics coins are FAKES, especially on eBay. Both of these coins have been verified as genuine by the Royal Mint, and graded by the NGC.
“You can fully trust this listing, and check my 100 percent feedback, and be assured of getting a genuine piece. This is a great opportunity for collectors to add an ultra-rare and extremely valuable piece to their coin collection.”
The Aquatics 50p was one of 29 different commemorative Fifty Pence pieces issued by The Royal Mint to celebrate the 2012 London Olympics.
Each coin is a tribute to a different Olympic sport from Archery to Wrestling and features a reverse chosen through a series of nationwide competitions, resulting in a diverse range of design styles.
The 2011 Aquatics coin, designed by Jonathan Olliffe, has two versions – one where people can see the face clearly – the other has watery lines across it. The second is the rarer with only 600 supposedly produced – making it the rarest 50p ever.
Over the course of the week, more bids were added by six buyers with 12 bids being placed on the coins altogether. The winner put a bid in for £2,500 on October 9.
It is always worth taking a look at one’s spare change before spending it as recently another 50p coin was sold for £205. The Kew Gardens 50p coin was released in 2009 to mark 250 years since the iconic botanic garden opened to the public in 1759.
Its design features the famous Chinese Pagoda in the gardens being intertwined by a leafy climber. The Kew Gardens 50p regularly tops lists of rarest coins, with just 210,000 in circulation – meaning it is highly sought-after by collectors.
