Yahoo Finance Rare 50c and 10c coins to sell for up to $1,500: ‘Look at your change’
The two coins are “mistrikes”, making them sought-after by collectors who are willing to pay hundreds - if not thousands - for them.
A “very rare” 50 cent coin and 10 cent coin are set to sell for up to $1,500 each, with one expert urging Aussies to check their change for the chance to cash in.
Both coins are sought after by collectors as they are “mistrikes” made in error by the Royal Australian Mint after being forged on the wrong coin denomination.
“They are very rare. There are quite a lot of decimal error coins created but the Mint doesn’t release them, they put them to one side and re-use the metal,” coin expert Jim Noble told Yahoo Finance.
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Why are these ‘rare’ coins worth so much?
Noble, of auction house Noble Numismatics, will be selling the coins and said the 1978 50-cent piece, struck on a 20-cent blank, is expected to sell for $1,500.
The 1994 10-cent piece struck on a 5-cent blank is expected to attract bids of $1,000 or more.
Noble said it was “very unusual” for the coins to leave the Mint but it did happen and some ended up in the hands of Aussies.
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“To find a coin like the 10-cent piece struck on a 5-cent blank, that is quite rare. But, they can be found in circulation,” he said.
“There was a case of two of these error coins turning up more than one at a time.
“You should look at your change … you might have something.”
Rare coins go under the hammer
The two coins are among a collection of coins going under the hammer next week.
Other highlights include a GEORGE V, halfpenny, with lettering on one side stamped back-to-front. This has an estimated value of $2,500.
There’s also two holey dollars, which was the first currency minted in Australia in 1813. There are only 300 in existence and are estimated to be worth $120,000 each.
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