‘Extremely rare’ Beatrix Potter 50p coin with price of nearly £150k up for sale

A new Beatrix Potter 50p coin with an ‘extremely rare’ error could sell for nearly £150,000 at auction.

The rare coin was only minted 10 times and was never released by the Royal Mint. Now one will go on sale at auction on 22 February, with the highest estimate stating it could go for £145,000.

The 50p features the character Jemima Puddle-Duck on the reverse, but what makes this particular coin so rare is the date.

The coin is dated 2023, but as these coins were only produced for collectors in 2016, it should have been minted with the date 2016. This coin is believed to be one of only ten 2023 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p coins in existence.

It is thought that the error happened when a small number of 2023 planchets (the blank coins) were mixed in with the 2016 planchets and then struck with the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck dies.

The Royal Mint has confirmed that the coin is genuine, although they will not be putting it into circulation.