I ‘won’ a half penny coin from an arcade 2p pusher machine – is it worth a coin and are these old coins selling for a lot of money?
On a recent trip to Southwold, Suffolk I was messing around with the 2p push machines in the arcades with my daughter.
As we inserted 2 pence coins I saw dangling close to the abyss among plastic toys, a 1965 halfpenny coin that must have accidentally fallen in there.
It didn’t take much to ‘win’ the coin and I stashed it in our special jar of unusual coins.
It’s in good condition. Is it worth much – and if not, I wonder if half cent coins are worth anything? Via email.
Although the quarter penny coins are no longer in use, there are still enough in circulation, far more than is necessary to make them rare or collectable, according to coin expert Philip Mussell
Ed Magnus of This is Money replies: There are a number of factors that can make a coin valuable. Metal content, condition and rarity are the keywords.
By using eBay’s sold listings you can get an indication of the actual price a coin is selling for on the open market, not just the prices sellers are listing them for – remember that an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay .
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the 1965 halfpenny coin you’ve come across will be worth much.
This is probably due to the high circulation. In the case of the 1965 halfpenny coins, more than 98 million were minted.
Compare that to the Kew Gardens 2009 50p for example, where only 210,000 were minted – this is a small mintage and so these coins can often sell for over £100.
Looking at Ebay’s sold listings, it doesn’t look like the 1965 halfpenny coin you’ve come across will be worth much.
However, with a history of 800 years, there are some valuable half cents to be found.
If you’ve somehow come across one of the earliest penny coins – perhaps from the 13th when they were first minted during the reign of Edward I, then you may be staring at something more exciting.
But that’s an incredibly unlikely event from a slot machine.
Even the oldest halfpenny coins will have their value very much determined by their condition.
To give our reader the best possible answer, we spoke to Philip Mussell, coin expert and author of Give out? Keep it?.
Historical value: Halfpenny coins from the reign of Richard II (1377-1399) sell for over £100 on eBay
Philip Mussell replies: Unfortunately, all relatively modern coins in daily use were minted in the millions.
Although the coins are no longer in use – they were withdrawn from the market after decimalisation in 1971 and the halfpenny that replaced them was itself withdrawn in 1984 – there are still enough in circulation, far more than is necessary to use them. rare or collectable.
And even if this were a rarer coin, the fact that it was used in an arcade means it won’t be in great condition, again something that would go against it as a collector’s item.
The 1965 halfpenny coin: The obverse of the coin features a young laureate bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right. The reverse of the coin shows the full harbor view of a three-masted sailing vessel, with bowsprit, full rigging and billowing sails (a representation of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind)
For coins, rarity and condition are the two things that make them interesting to collectors. Unfortunately, this coin ticks neither box.
As a rule, most modern coins are not worth much, certainly not a penny from the 20th century will excite collectors.
The ones worth serious money will be the older, silver ones – the first were minted during the late 13th early 14th century.
The first copper nickels, from the reign of Willem and Maria, are also eagerly sought after. But they are from the 1690s.