Super-rare 25p coin sells for £1,700 at auction

An extremely rare 25p coin has sold for £1,700 at auction.

Experts predicted the coin – which has seldom been seen – could fetch up to 2,800 times its face value - but it far exceeded the estimate when it went on sale on Wednesday.

The coin was handed out in change by accident and is the exact same shape as the normal 20p.

There are thought to be less than 50 in current circulation, and the collector’s item was auctioned in Wiltshire, where experts valued it at between £500 and £700.

The coin is made from nickel brass and went under the hammer at RWB Auctions in Royal Wootton Bassett.

It is thought to have been made by Royal Mint craftspeople before the 20p denomination was released into circulation in 1982.

At the time, authorities had not decided whether the coin would be worth 20p or 25p.

YouTuber Christopher Collects, who works for RWB Auctions, called the piece “fascinating” as he made what now seems like a conservative prediction on how much it could sell for.

He said: “20p coins are a fixture in our change now, but the Royal Mint seems to have experimented with various ideas before they settled on the seven-sided coin we all recognise.

“Trial pieces would have been used to demonstrate the concept of a new coin to officials and may have been sent out to businesses that handle lots of cash to try out.

“This trial coin could easily be mistaken for a 20p, but we are certain it will sell for a lot more than that.”

The 25p coin is just one coin that was being sold off in the auction as part of a “specialist sale of historic and modern currency”.

The auction house, which opened in the town’s High Street in January, previously sold an unusual Olympics 50p for £1,500.