The children’s character the Gruffalo’s child is featured on a new coin issued by the Royal Mint. Rare coins can go up in value so some may want to consider making a purchase
Experts have said a rare new 50p could one day be worth thousands and it is now up for sale.
The coin, depicting the Gruffalo’s Child character has gone on sale to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Gruffalo’s child story released in 2004. The 20th anniversary of the original Gruffalo story released in 1999 also spawned two 50p tributes that some people are already selling on online auction sites.
The new coins were designed by Magic Light Pictures, The Sun reported. Magic Light Pictures made the films of the series originally written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
Rare coins can quickly go up in value and make people a tidy profit. The Sun reported that the Royal Mint sold the 2019 Gruffalo coin for £10, but one coin was sold for £26 in August.
Oliver Miller, managing director of Bishop & Miller auctioneers, told the newspaper: “With the release of the new Gruffalo 50p, people will ask me whether it’s an investment or not. What it comes down to is how many are minted – if it’s a low mint it’s worth more as the rarity goes up, if a huge amount are minted, these are worth less. The other factor is how popular will they be. I would say as a father of two fans of the Gruffalo these will be popular and could prove to be a nice little investment.”
The cheapest and uncoloured version of the new Gruffalo coin is on sale on the Royal Mint website for £12. A colour version costs £21 while a silver proof colour coin is £75. The gold proof coin, meanwhile, is £99.50.
The Gruffalo’s child isn’t the only children’s book character on special coins this year. Earlier this month, the Royal Mint said the Snowman is being depicted on a new Royal Mint, with a gold version hidden in one of its advent calendars for someone to discover on Christmas Eve.
The Mint said that to further celebrate the launch of The Snowman 2024 collectable 50p, it has hidden a solid gold coin behind door 24 in one limited-edition The Snowman advent calendar, offering someone the chance of “striking gold”.
The Snowman 50p coin is available in a range of precious metal finishes, including colour editions, on the Royal Mint’s website, with prices starting at £12. It will not be entering general circulation.
The coin celebrates Raymond Briggs’ picture book with a new design created by Robin Shaw, who was art director on The Snowman And The Snowdog, the sequel to the original television adaptation.
Printing errors and other strange occurrences can result in odd coins that become valuable. In 2014, a £2 coin featuring Lord Kitchener was issued with a printing error. There are believed to be around 800 versions of the coin that have the error on.
