The eBay seller has listed the Paddington 50p for £100, describing the coin as “rare”. Writing in the listing, blaula_ufd9h6mwk said: “RARE. PADDINGTON 50p at st pauls. low start. no reserve. . Dispatched with Royal Mail 1st Class Large Letter.”
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Paddington Bear commemorative coins were first brought out in 2018 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the children’s book, A Bear Called Paddington.
Last year, two more versions of the coin were released, one featuring St Paul’s Cathedral and the other at the Tower of London.
Designed by David Knapton, the coin on offer shows Paddington outside St Paul’s Cathedral doffing his famous hat.
Describing the design, Nicola Howell, director of consumer coins at The Royal Mint, said: “Following the huge popularity of the coins featuring the much-loved bear last year, we thought it was only right that Paddington continued his adventures around London on UK coinage.
“Paddington Bear is a massive part of British popular culture and is a favourite amongst fans of all ages, who we’re sure will be looking out for him in their change.”
Although the coins were immediately popular, they are not necessarily worth as much as the eBay asking price would suggest.
The mintage of the 50 pence piece is not known, but it does not appear to be rare based on it’s valuation.
The coin was available to buy for £10 from The Royal Mint, although it is now sold out.
However, the entire Paddington range can be bought from the Westminster Collection for just £17.95.
The coin was also released in a Silver Proof version that featured the illustration in colour.
This can also be bought for a much more reasonable price and is available for £65 from The Royal Mint.
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Commemorative coins are often listed for much more than face value, but this does not always reflect their worth.
Experts at the coin magazine, Spend It? Save It? What Should You Do? issued an important warning for potential buyers.
They said: “Sometimes what happens is someone will list a coin for £1,000 knowing they won’t sell it, but then list a similar coin for a much lower price (say £25).
“It won’t even be worth the £25 but as someone has seen it online for £1,000 they end up with a coin that’s worth just face value because they were too caught up with thinking they have bought something cheap.”
A coin is only worth as much as the buyer is willing to pay for it, however they could save by shopping around.
Coins will often be sold online with a huge asking price when they are worth much less.
Which are the rarest £1, £2, 50p, 20p, 10p and 2p coins?
Rarest £2 coins
The rarest £2 coin is the 2002 Commonwealth Games NI coin with 485,500 in circulation. This is followed by the 2002 Commonwealth Games Wales which has 588,500 in circulation.
Next up is the 2015 Navy, and there are 650,000 in circulation.
Rarest £1 coins
The most rare £1 coins are all part of a series celebrating the British capitals.
The rarest of these is the 2011 Edinburgh coin, with 935,000 in circulation. Of the 2011 Cardiff coins there are 1,615,000 in circulation, while the 2010 London coin has 2,635,000 in circulation.
Rarest 50p coin
The rarest 50p coin is the Kew Gardens coin, which is also the rarest coin in circulation. It there were only 210,000 minted.
The football Olympic 50p coin has 1,125,500 in circulation, and the wrestling coin has 1,129,500 in circulation.
It is not so easy to evaluate the rarest 20p coins, 10p coins and even 2p coins as exact circulation figures are not known.
However, various versions of the coins are known to sell for large sums.
These include the dateless 20ps, which are actually part of a run from 2008. There may be between 50,000 and 200,000 of these coins in circulation.
The 1983 ‘New Pence’ 2p coin can also sell for a huge sum, up to £650.
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