The rarest and most valuable 50p coins currently in circulation - including one valued at £250

Your spare change could be worth a small fortune after a list of the rarest and most valuable coins in circulation was revealed by Change Checker. It comes after the latest Scarcity Index report was published in May 2023.

The list was compiled by website Change Checker, which helps find, identify, collect, and swap circulating coins. It has been broken down into three different categories - the rarest 50p pieces, as well as 10p and £2 coins currently in circulation.

According to Change Checker, these are the UK’s rarest and most sought-after 50p pieces.

The rarest 50p pieces currently in circulation

The rarest 50p piece currently in circulation throughout the UK remains the special Kew Gardens version. It features the famous Chinese Pagoda to mark the 250th anniversary of when the botanical garden was opened in 1759.

Coinhunter has revealed that the rare coinage has an average eBay listing price of £156. Though there are many cases of it selling for up to £250.

Coming in at second place is the Judo Olympics 50p piece, which was created to celebrate the London Olympic Games in 2012. It has been considered one of the rarest coins in the UK as only 1,161,500 were minted.

Coinhunter states that the Judo-inspired coin is worth an estimated £10 if it is in a good condition. While some eBay listings have priced it as high as £18.

50ps that climbed a total of 15, 13 and 10 places respectively were the 2017 Peter Rabbit 50p, the Olympic Boccia 50p and the Beatrix Potter 50p.

There have been some not so fortunate coins, though - the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 50p has dropped 18 places and the 50 Years of Pride 50p is down an “astonishing” 27 places. The Pride 50p only entered circulation in October 2022, so most of them may have made their way into peoples’ collections, or maybe they’re still out there waiting to be found.