A NSW man has sold a 5c coin for $2000 — a decade after finding it in his childhood money box.
The coin, which was taken into Adelaide coin shop The Purple Penny earlier this year, features a double obverse — the late Queen Elizabeth II’s effigy on both sides.
Minted in 2007, its two heads are also 180 degrees rotated from each other, whereas on a normal coin the images on each face are the same way up.
There are probably several thousands of the coins in circulation, The Purple Penny spokesperson, known only as Mark, told 7NEWS.com.au.
“There’s one person in Sydney who has found a hundred or more of them,” he said, saying it was thought the mistake coins were mostly distributed in NSW when first issued.
“They all have pretty much been found in and around Sydney.”
While they initially sold for a few hundred dollars, the coins have grown in value to “a few thousand in the past five to 10 years”, Mark said.
The Purple Penny has previously handled a few of the rare coins — and most recently the one brought into the shop by a NSW couple who were visiting their son, now aged in his mid-20s, who had “found the coin while he was playing with money from his money box when he was 10 to 11 years old”, Mark said.
The son noticed it had two heads and his parents put it aside until almost 10 years later when the decided to sell it — with the $2000 proceeds going straight to their son.
“It’s not a bad return on investment for 5c,” Mark said.
But he admits people wanting to look for their own rare 5c piece to sell may have better luck buying a lotto ticket.
“There are billions of 5c pieces,” he said.
In 2007, 59 million 5c pieces were minted, the year before it was 306 million.
“It’s basically one chance in 500 million,” Mark said of the hunt for a rare 5c coin.
“A person in Adelaide looks through hundreds (of 5c coins) … they’ve looked through more than a million coins and never found one.”
Money expert Joel Kandiah posted a video featuring the double-headed coin on his TikTok account thehistoryofmoney.
He estimated it is worth $2000 to $5000.
Kandiah also noted in 2000 a “mule” coin was released combining the $1 and 10c coins. It can now fetch from $300 up to $4000 depending on its quality.
Also in 2000, a 50c coin was minted featuring an incuse flag rather than a relief one. It can be worth from $50 to $1000.
In 1966, a 20c coin with a wavy baseline on the numeral two in the 20 can earn the seller from $200 to $3500.
The $2 red poppy coin, released in 2012, could be worth from $80 up to $280.
While society is becoming increasingly cashless, it’s worth taking a look at your coins to see if they’re all they seem to be.
One 50c coin could be worth almost $15,000.
Only two of the coins are known to be in circulation — but more could exist.
According to retailer Downies Collectables — which recently sold one of the rare coins for $14,750 — the 50c coin minted in 1988 with the standard coat of arms on its tail side instead of the special Bicentenary image is “excessively rare” and “eminently historic”.
All 50c coins minted in 1988 were supposed to feature a First Fleet boat and the dates 1788-1988 to celebrate the country’s bicentenary.
At least two coins that are known were instead accidentally printed with the standard coat of arms.
“As is customary, the creation of a special one-year-only 50c commemorative meant that the standard coat of arms 50c was not struck for circulation, and was naturally not included in the proof or mint sets of that year either,” Downies Collectables said.
“Indeed, no 1988 coat of arms 50c coins should exist.”