Yahoo Finance Tiny detail in 50c coin makes it worth $70: ‘Good find’
Only about 200,000 of the 50-cent coins made it into circulation, making them a rare find.
A coin enthusiast has revealed the small detail that could make some 50-cent coins worth up to 140 times their face value.
Victorian coin collector Michael McCauley told Aussies to watch out for the “fairly rare” 50c piece, which has a design celebrating the start of the millennium on the coin’s “tails” side.
The Royal Australian Mint produced 16.6 million of the 50c coins, which feature the Australian flag. However, only a small number of them have an easy-to-miss feature in the Union Jack.
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“The cross pieces in the flag are lower down, it’s like it’s sunk into the coin,” McCauley explained on TikTok.
“They estimated about 200,000 of this particular coin - with the sunken-down features - made it into circulation.”
In the more common variety of the 2000 Millennium coin, the flag is raised from the surface of the coin rather than sunken.
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McCauley said the coins, known as the ‘incused flag’, had recently sold for between $45 and $70 and were “a good find”.
“Definitely keep your eye out for these 50-cent coins from the year 2000 and have a look at the Union Jack and see if the metal is lower down,” he said.
It’s not the only rare 50c coin to keep an eye out for. Round 50-cent coins, which were minted in 1966 and made from 80 per cent silver, are now worth $15 due to their silver value.
An extremely rare 1988 coin could be worth nearly $15,000 due to an error by the Royal Australian Mint. The coins commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet. However, instead of replacing the standard coat of arms with this design, some coins feature both designs.
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