eBay: ‘Rare’ Charles Dickens £2 coin selling for 250 times its worth - do YOU have one?
EBAY is the online market place that thousands of rare coins, artefacts and collectables end up on every single day. One of those pricey collectables is a “rare” £2 coin with Charles Dickens’ face engraved on it.
When it comes to looking for “rare” British coins, there is no place better to look than online auction site, eBay.
Full of eBayers looking to make a pretty penny from their small change, eBay also attracts plenty of collectors willing to pay high prices for these coins.
Joining the collection of rare coins for sale, a £2 coin was listed on the online marketplace this evening.
Minted in 2012, the coin was listed with the simple title: “Charles Dickens £2.00 rare coin.”
The coin was listed for a staggering £500, 250 times the £2 coin’s face value.
eBay: A rare £2 coin has been listed on eBay for a staggering £400 - do you have one?
Possibly preempting the coin won’t sell for the high price, the seller made the coin available for auction, starting the bidding at a more modest £250.
The seller goes by the name of andr-tina and has 100 per cent positive feedback, adding to the listing’s appeal.
Based in Lancing, andr-tina has two other coins for sale, a “rare” 50p and another £2, which appears to be the same Charles Dickens £2 but at a lower price point of £400.
Clearly confident of the coin’s ability to sell itself, the seller’s description just reads: “Charles dickens £2.00 coin.collecters item. This is rare as this has a rare defect on it. 2012.”
The coin was minted in 2012 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of British novelist, Charles Dickens.
Getty Images, ebay/andr-tina
Charles Dickens is viewed as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, creating fictional characters that are well-known and loved all over the world still to this day.
Designed by Matthew Dent, the coin features the outline of Dickens’ recognisable profile on its reverse side.
The profile is crafted from the titles of some of the writer’s most famous works, including Great Expectations and David Copperfield.
Commemorating the Oliver Twist writer’s life, the £2 has “1812 Charles Dickens 1870” also engraved.
Despite andr-tina’s high asking price, it’s unclear as to whether or not the coin is actually as “rare” as they think, with scarcity index CheckYourChange.co.uk, stating the Charles Dickens £2 coin is actually quite common.
With a mintage for circulation of 8,190,00, it is rated one for collectibility and scarcity, the lowest rating.
ebay/andr-tina
However, the coin is proving popular with eBayers, with three views on the listing reported per hour.
One coin that did make the big bucks on eBay was a rare 50p that sold for a whopping £1000 this week.
Commemorating British writer Beatrix Potter, the coin features an engraving of her beloved character, Peter Rabbit.
The seller wrote of their item: “Rare 2016 BEATRIX POTTER PETER RABBIT 50p Circulated Coin Very COLLECTABLE”.
The coin was minted in 2016 and has a surprisingly high circulation rate of 9,600,000 - making it not as rare as initially thought.